


Dark Wings and Bright Magic

by Khawapashi



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Courtly Love, Devoted Reylo, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Happy Ending, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, Execution, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff and Smut, I Need Magic in My AU, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jedi Knights, Kylo has wings, More World of Darkness Inspired Stuff, Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Past Sexual Assault, Politics, Princess Rey (Star Wars), Rey Kenobi, Reylo - Freeform, Royalty Drama, Skywalker Family Drama, finnrose - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-06-09 12:50:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 35
Words: 120,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15267867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khawapashi/pseuds/Khawapashi
Summary: A few feet away, on one of the guest chamber balconies, she could see a tall young man, with midnight-black hair and the massive, beautiful wings of the seraphim. She had never seen one with black wings before, and she realized she was staring.She jumped when his gaze turned to her, his eyes narrowed and curious. He moved closer along the edge if the balcony, and Rey shyed back a few steps.“Don't be afraid,” he said in voice like lush velvet.Princess Reyna, last scion of the noble sidhe who once ruled Coruscant, meets a mysterious, dark-winged seraphim on a secret late-night excursion upon the castle roof. Emotionally-traumatized after an attack in her youth, the princess has been labeled unfit to rule, abused and kept a virtual prisoner all her life. Rey still manages to thrive in surprising ways, hoarding knowledge and dreaming of escape.Her carefully-nurtured hope for a brighter future seems to come true when she meets the man her father has chosen for her to marry, and events unfold almost more quickly than Rey can keep up with. Because nothing at all is as it seems, and she soon finds her betrothed prince and his kingdom to be much, much more than she was led to expect.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an alternate universe of my own creation, heavily-inspired by the tabletop RPG game Changeling: the Dreaming (so, another WoD AU, I guess I should do Vampire at some point, too). I like AUs, but I need my fantasy space wizards to still be wizards on some level lol.There are several different kinds of faerie folk mentioned, and I am playing very loosely with the designs, so I will give a quick run down here, but also a reminder definition in the chapter notes whenever a new race is mentioned. 
> 
> (IDK, what I’m doing, honestly, but it's pretty and fun so I’m going with it.)
> 
> Sidhe - (pronounced she-ee) basically standard-issue elves like Legolas and Arwen. Pointy ears, lithe and agile bodies, with an innate magical allure that makes people want to obey their commands and can cause temporary infatuation.
> 
> Seraphim - fantasy angels, humanoid in appearance, with feathered wings and hair of almost any color. Possess the strongest defensive and shielding magic in the Realms, and can draw upon the power of righteous fury in combat when protecting their lands and people.
> 
> Nyx/nyxies - black-skinned faeries of the night, they have bright green or purple eyes, blue, silver or violet lips and wings like a darkly-colored butterfly. Possess the power to walk through shadows. As they are creatures of the night, they sleep from dawn to after midday.
> 
> Selkies - shapeshifters who take the form of seals(sea selkies) or otters (river selkies) and must carry their skins with them, have power over water and an internal compass that is never wrong.
> 
> Dryad/nymphs - faerie of the forests, their lives are tied to the trees and plants they are born from, and their magic is in healing and herbcrafts.
> 
> Ifreet - with bodies made entirely of ever-smoldering coal, the fire-faeries are capricious but excellent story-tellers, with mastery of flames and a natural talent for metalworking.
> 
> Lamia - half-humanoid, half reptile, varying in body make-up, some have horns and claws, others tails, spikes, forked tongues and serpentine lower halves. Known for their terrifying basilisk gaze which can petrify the unprepared.
> 
> Boggans - natural craftsmen and engineers, proficient in the design and maintenance of magical items and enchanted clockwork. Short, with long beards common for males and females, like the traditional fantasy description of dwarves. 
> 
> Grimalkin - shapeshifters who take the form of cats, appear with a variety of humanoid and feline features. They are known to be excellent spies and intelligence agents, and always know the way back home, even if they are blindfolded or kidnapped
> 
> Dannan - commonfolk of the Realms, they are nonmagical, but just as capable of individual intelligence and bravery as any given faerie. The majority of the population is made up of them. (I stole this term from the tuatha'de'dannan, which is just a blanket term for gaelic fair folk).
> 
> Fomorians - dark fae who can take the form of any person after drinking their heart's blood. Their powers are based in death and decay. The blood of the sidhe is poisonous to them, and many of them believe they are meant to be the true rulers of the Realms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gryph - flying beasts with the body of a horse and long, arched necks like a swan's, with deer-like heads.

It was so silent on the rooftop, the princess found even her own breath seemed loud. This was the sacred hour, precisely equidistant between sunset and sunrise, when the moon rose high at the apex of its journey. And all the world, or most of it anyway, was lost to a dreamless, enchanted sleep.

But not her. As far as Rey knew, she was the only living being in the entire castle grounds who was awake, other than the occasional gryph she spied overhead, their graceful necks stretched out and hooved legs curled up as their wings carried them high on rising winds. Sometimes they would see her, and she wondered if they were truly the mindless beasts her father insisted they were, for she seemed to sense a certain curiosity in their sapphire eyes, and sometimes they even offered a passing nod in her direction, one night traveler to another.

Rey found the loose stone in the roof of the library, where she had hidden the book she stolen from the fat, old chronicler who was supposed to be her tutor, and sat down to read. It wasn't a very exciting book, but it was old, a history of her people written down by her great-grandsire, and while it was difficult to parse the older dialect, she'd learned fascinating truths about her family and their kingdom. 

It made her very sad to know she would be the last of her kind, the last sidhe in a long line of magical rulers dating back a thousand years to St. Bastila the First. Rey passed by her statue often in the little courtyard off of the chapel, and she did her best to keep it and the fountain beneath it clean of stray leaves and vines, with clear water flowing through the pipes. She'd had to learn how to fix the plumbing problems on her own, crawling underneath the stone floor with a glowstone and pilfered tools, but seeing her ancestor standing proud in vigilance over the bubbling water was worth the trouble. 

Rey had read long ago, from a different stolen tome, what it really meant to be a sidhe, the power she could have wielded, if only she had kept her virtue long enough to ascend. It made her heart ache with longing, not just at the loss of her own potential, but the loneliness to which she was doomed for the rest of her life. And it would be a long life, despite her youthful indiscretions that bared her from the ritual of ascension at Bastila’s altar, she carried the magical blood of the fae, and a sidhe could expect to live for centuries. 

She tried to focus on her reading, but she was struggling to concentrate tonight for some reason, and she closed the tome with a frustrated sigh. 

There was a sound like great wings swooping through the air around her, and suddenly she felt a strange presence intruding on her solitude. Curious, and a little afraid, she turned her head and let out a gasp, climbing swiftly to her feet. 

A few feet away, on one of the guest chamber balconies, she could see a tall young man, with midnight-black hair and the massive, beautiful wings of the seraphim. She had never seen one with black wings before, and she realized she was staring. 

She jumped when his gaze turned to her, his eyes narrowed and curious. He moved closer along the edge if the balcony, and Rey shyed back a few steps. 

“Don't be afraid,” he said in voice like lush velvet. 

“I’m s-sorry,” she managed to gasp. “I've never seen anyone else awake at this hour. You frightened me.” 

“I apologize for that,” he said in the same soft voice. “I’m Kylo, Prince of the Ren.” He bowed gracefully, coming up with a teasing smile. “You must be Princess Reyna.” 

“You can call me Rey,” she said, surprising herself. He was so beautiful and the way his eyes roamed over her face, clearly enjoying their chance meeting, made her feel unusually bold. She gave a small curtsy, one royal to another. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.” 

“Ah, no. Please call me Kylo.” He folded his arms over the stone railing, and she couldn't help the way her eyes roamed over the moon-pale skin and corded muscle. His forearm was nearly the size of her thigh. “I believe the pleasure is mine,” he said, drawing her eyes back to him. “What are you doing out on the roof, little sidhe? Practicing magic?” 

Rey felt herself flush under his intense gaze, looking away over the forest behind the castle where the wind danced through the treetops. “I can't do magic,” she said softly. “I’m not fit for the trial of ascension.” 

Prince Kylo tilted his head, frowning. “What do you mean, you're not fit? You're not insane, are you?” 

“No! Of course not!” She shook her head. “It’s not a story for polite company.” 

He glanced around, raising his eyebrows. “It’s just us here. I don’t think there are any other noble fae in this place.” 

“No, there's not.” She caught his eye and bit her lip, suddenly worried that he would spill her secret. If he was staying in one of the guestrooms, obviously he had been invited by her father. “I’m afraid I must ask that you not speak of this meeting, my lord. My father believes I do not keep the sacred hour after my… indiscretions… and I would prefer it to remain that way.” 

“It’s hard to believe King Snoke has such a beautiful daughter,” he mused, and she turned away in embarrassment. 

“I’m not-” 

“You _are_. It’s a complement. Just say ‘thank you,’” he insisted. She looked up, her eyes wide with surprise, and he smiled when he caught her gaze. 

“Thank you,” she whispered after a moment of silence. He laughed, and she smiled faintly, blushing again. “But, surely you've seen my sisters.” 

“What, Fazma and Bazine?” He scoffed. “I supposed they're alright, if you like all that make-up and corsets.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry if it sounds insulting, but your sisters don’t look very… friendly. Besides, they’re dannan.” 

She smiled again, meeting the amusement in his glittering dark eyes. “They're not friendly, and I’m not sorry for telling you, but you should know my father does not hold with discrimination against the commonfolk.” 

He laughed again, and she decided she liked the sound of it. For a moment he regarded her with that scorchingly intent gaze and she boldly returned it, even as her blood sang with adrenaline. 

“I've never seen a seraph with black wings,” she said, again surprised at how bold he made her. She took an involuntary step closer, lips parting slightly as he lifted his shoulders and stepped back, sweeping them forward over his head. He was taller than she’d thought, and there was something about the way his chest moved even under his clothes that made her long to touch him. 

“You’re beautiful,” she heard herself say. He raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile tugging at his lips as she returned the compliment she had been so unwilling to accept of herself. 

“Thank you,” he said with a little nod. He glanced away, giving her a view of his face in profile, and she thought she caught a hint of embarrassment on his cheek. He turned back suddenly, reaching at hand out towards her. “Would you like to touch?” 

“Oh!” She froze. She _would_ like to, but it wasn’t proper, she was a princess, and she’d already made the mistake of being too close to a man without escort. She couldn’t imagine there’d be a punishment for such indiscretions now, but she didn’t dare risk it. “No - I - I can’t” 

He lowered his hand, disappointment crossing his face, and she was quick to explain, giving a nervous little smile. “It’s not proper. We’re all alone out here. My father would be furious if - if I were caught in such a position again.” 

She watched him as he puzzled over her words, slowly coming to the right conclusion. He sighed and ran a hand through his thick, dark hair nervously. 

“Of course. You’re absolutely right.” He held her gaze in his a moment longer. “Perhaps tomorrow you’d like to… take a walk in the garden, or something? Somewhere more… appropriate… than the castle rooftop?” 

Rey looked down, absently toying with the signet ring on her right forefinger, the star and sword crest that had been her mother’s. Was he asking to… to court her? She shook her head slightly. 

“I would like that very much, my lord - Kylo,” she looked up when she said his name, and she knew from his expression he could see the conflict in her eyes. “I find myself very lonely here. It would be pleasant to have a… companion… to speak with.” 

“A companion?” He repeated sharply. She sighed. 

“I hate to mislead you, but I fear I am not… I am not free to be courted. My father has already arranged for me to be wed on my next nameday.” His brows narrowed, but he said nothing, head tilted slightly as he listened. “I am supposed to meet him tomorrow. The prince of some small house in the Wastelands.” 

“Ah, I see.” His tone seemed lighter than she’d expected, almost amused. “Well, then, Lady Rey. I bid you goodnight.” He glanced up at the moon with a speculative look. “The sacred hour is almost over.” 

She curtsied again, a little dip, as to an equal, and he bowed his head, that strange smile still tugging at his lips. 

“Goodnight, Lord Kylo.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Rey could not quite conceal her shock when she saw him again the very next day, standing at the foot of the dias in her father’s throne room, his eyes taking in her every step as she moved towards him in her simple gown, violet silk with a sky blue bodice, her hair swept back under a woven net, dotted with tiny sapphires. It was the finest thing she owned, having no need of the kind of court dresses or ball gown her sisters wore, most of her wardrobe consisted of simple frocks and riding costumes. She had let her lady-in-waiting apply a trace of kohl to her lashes and a pink stain on her lips, but firmly refused any other cosmetics Rose suggested. She had complained of the necessity of dressing up for some wasteland prince she didn’t even know, but now she was grateful her lady had insisted.

Kylo looked beautiful in another black vest with silver embroidery, but her eyes were trapped in his, he would have been beautiful even in rags. She swallowed, and her father coughed. Off to one side, her step-mother Kreia and her two half-sisters were shooting her their usual snide looks, and she took a deep breath, focusing only on Kylo.

“My first-born, Princess Reyna,” King Snoke said in a bored voice. “Reyna, Prince Kylo will be your husband soon, should he find you acceptable.”

“Yes,” Kylo said without looking at Snoke at all. Bazine gave a startled giggle, and Rey could hear them whispering, wondering if her potential husband knew she was already tainted. His eyes darted in their direction, and Rey could see his gloved fist clench. With a little bow, he held out a gloved hand to her. “Your Highness. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Rey stammered as he brought her hand to his lips and brushed her skin with a chaste kiss that somehow promised so much more.

“Please, Your Highness. The pleasure is mine, I’m sure,” she managed to remember her courtesies after a frightening second. He smiled into her eyes as she gave a little curtsy, and did not release her hand as he turned, forcing her to stand beside him.

“Your Majesty,” he bowed. “I am satisfied with this arrangement. I will speak to my mother, though I believe her thoughts will be the same as mine.”

“You and your Queen Mother are both aware she is not a maiden?” The King said abruptly. Rey found her heart pounding, her eyes stinging with tears. Now, of course, it would all come out, he would know she was unclean, unworthy of even a small wasteland prince. But Kylo only shrugged.

“Your envoy was quite explicit. I assure you, I care not, so long as she is healthy and obedient and able to bear my children,” his words sounded callous, but Rey told herself she should be grateful he was willing to overlook her lack of virginity at all. “It is a shame, I’m sure my mother would have liked another sorceress in our lineage, but our priests assure me the blood runs true regardless.”

“Excellent,” her father replied. She felt more than saw Kreia lean over to speak to the king, though her words were loud enough.

“How quickly will they take her? Perhaps the wedding could be performed by the wasteland priests, since it is a woman’s place to accept her husband’s religion?”

Rey swallowed tears at the king’s careless shrug, at her half-sisters discussing how they didn’t want her wedding taking up the court’s time and money anyway. She stiffened, reminding herself again that she did not owe them any affection, and she had suffered endlessly for her past. She refused to let it break her again.

Surprisingly, she felt Kylo’s grip on her hand tighten, and he leaned his towering frame over to whisper against her ear.

“Hold your head up, sweetheart,” his breath in her ear made her spine tingle. “Indifference is the best form of revenge.”

Then he turned to the king and gave another graceful bow. “If that is Your Majesty’s wish, we will depart tonight. You may send the princess’s belongings after us.”

“Tonight?” For once, the old man seemed actually surprised by something. Kylo flicked his wings restlessly. “Do you mean to carry her with you?”

“I see no reason not to. You’ve your own business to tend, and if we are to be married in my kingdom, my mother will need my bride there to begin planning,” he explained, as if it were obvious. The king turned, leaning in to whisper to his wife, then gave Kylo a nod.

“Very well.” He waved a hand at Rey. “Pack lightly, child. We’ll send that girl of yours with the rest of your things later.”

Suddenly she was following the prince out of the throne room, up the stairs to the bed chambers, hardly able to think, let alone breathe with the pace he set.

“Wait, wait, my lord, please!” She gasped finally. They stopped just outside the door to her suite, and he turned, his gaze heated on hers. “I don’t - What do I bring? Are you -” she swallowed. “Are you going to carry me? In the air?”

“You're not afraid of heights, I assume, given your ease walking the rooftops.” He frowned, his thumb absently caressing the palm of her hand. “You’ll need something warm. It’s cold higher up. You can bring a few books if you'd like, but nothing very heavy.”

She blinked at him, numb with the sudden onslaught of emotions that struck her as she considered her betrothed carrying her into the sky on his beautiful wings. Then she nodded quickly and ducked through the door to her rooms.

“I'll be right back,” she promised. He nodded, frowning, but released her to pack alone.

Well, she wasn't really  _ alone _ , Rose was there in the sitting room working with her jewelry-making tools and items spread out on the hearth. Her lady-waiting was also her only friend, and she knew the princess well enough to sense her upset. She hastily folded her work up in a large oilcloth and rushed over.

“Oh, Rey, is he truly awful?”

“What?” She saw the question in her lady’s eyes and laughed, shaking her head. “No, no… he's a seraph. He's beautiful. But he wants me to go with him now, and have the wedding at his mother's court.”

“ _ Now? _ As in right now?” Rose gaped. Rey nodded breathlessly. “Well, we have to get you out of that dress. I'll get your riding outfit.”

“The one with the breeches, please. I don’t know how I’d manage a skirt flying through the sky.” She shook her head, still dazed at the speed of everything.

“Surely you're joking-” Rose poked her head of Rey’s closet and her mouth opened in a silent ‘oh’. “You're not. He's going to carry you off. Because he has wings. Seraphim have wings.”

“They're black,” Rey said almost dreamily. Rose blinked at her.

“Black?”

“Like a raven’s, yes. A very  _ large _ raven. He's…”

“Large?” Rose clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock at her own words.

Rey started giggling as she hurriedly unlaced her bodice and let it fall, and Rose joined her as she tossed through the closets and dressers, filling a leather satchel Rey used to gather herbs in the spring.

“Tall,” Rey said, gasping for breath. “He's very tall. And quite athletic.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Rose eyed her, and she broke into another fit of laughter.

“It’s ridiculous, isn't it?” Rey managed with great effort to gain control over herself as Rose helped her into her more comfortable clothes, gray linen breeches, a lavender blouse and laced white leather bodice with multiple pockets.

Rey slipped a few of her most precious pieces of jewelry in the pockets, knowing her younger sisters would steal anything she left behind. She took her mother's secret signet ring from the hidden drawer behind her dresser and slipped it on her forefinger.

“It’s like a children's story, a faerie epic,” Rose laughed.

“Well, I am a faerie, so at least that part makes sense.”

She sorted through the things Rose had packed for her - soap and very limited cosmetics, a spare set of underclothes and her spare breeches. Her hairbrush and favorite combs. She hastily dug under her mattress to retrieve her two most precious books and stuffed them in as well.

“True. You deserve to be carried off by a beautiful seraph after what they did to you-” she pressed her lips together grimly as Rey gave her a silencing look.

“Rose. You can't speak like that. Remember Paige?” She held her arms out and Rose flung herself into Rey's embrace, sobbing quietly.

“I know, I know, it's just… What am I going to do without you? I don’t want to stay here with Sn- the king and his horrible family. They'll put me in the scullery or the stables, you know they will.” She let Rey hold her out at arm’s length, sniffling and rubbing her tears away.

“Oh no, you won't be.” She smiled a bittersweet smile. “You're to pack my things and join us there as soon as possible.”

“Oh! You silly nyx, you should have told me that to begin with!” She gave Rey another quick hug, then took a little kit of tools and wire from her pocket and stuffed it in Rey’s satchel. “In case you get bored,” she winked.

“I wish I could fit  _ you _ in there,” she complained, as Rose settled her white, fur-lined winter cloak over her shoulders.

“We’ll see each other soon enough,” her lady said firmly, giving Rey a gentle push towards the door after she dabbed at her tears. “You'd better not keep your prince waiting, my lady. And tell him he’d better be good to you, or I'll pluck those wings and make you a fine mattress!”

She yelled the last part as Rey opened the door to see Kylo pacing. He looked up when she laughed, and peered over her shoulder at the short little woman sniffling quietly as she gave Rey a final wave.

“Is that your maid? She's very loyal,” he smiled, offering her his arm to take her bag. He  slung it over his shoulder, flexing his chest and lifting his wings, and gave her an approving nod. “It’s manageable.” He paused, glancing at the door. “Did she threaten to  _ pluck _ me?”

“She's very loyal,” Rey said with a soft laugh, hoping he had a sense of humor. He eyed the door with a closed expression, then favored her with a gentle smile.

“She's coming to join us with your things?”

“Yes,” she took the arm he offered shyly. “If that's… alright with you. She is my only friend. I’m afraid my father wouldn't be kind to her if she had to stay here.”

He gave her a puzzled look. “Of course it's alright. You're a sidhe princess. You should have a… flock of loyal ladies. Are you ready?”

She looked up quickly, wondering if he intended the pun for her amusement, and she saw from the glint in his warm brown eyes that he did. He did indeed have a sense of humor, for which she was incredibly grateful. Beautiful, intelligent enough to make a play on words, he had wit  _ and _ a sense of humor.

Still, she hesitated. Even as cruel as her step-mother and younger sisters were, under her father's disinterest and the shunning of most of his court, Coruscant was her home.

“Forgive me, my lord, it's just so sudden. I hate to arrive at your court a beggar.” She looked back at her door as he drew her along the hall, hating the thought of Rose packing all her things under her step-mother's cruel gaze. She'd be lucky to receive even half her belongings, but she didn't care about things so much as she cared about Rose. “I’d like to have a day, at least, to put my things in order and see Rose off on the journey.”

“No.” He said firmly. “I don’t trust those people, and I fear I may have given myself away. I won’t leave you with them one second longer.”

“Given yourself away? I don’t understand!” He sighed. “Please - Kylo - Tell me -”

He silenced her with his lips, firmly crushed over hers as he gripped her waist to keep her from shying away. She stiffened in surprise, but she soon realized she didn’t mind it at all, his lips were warm and soft and there was a heat building in her like coming into a roaring fire from the blistering cold. Slowly, Rey let herself relax, even daring to reach an arm up around his neck, tugging him closer. He was to be her husband, after all, surely there was no reason they couldn’t indulge in a simple kiss.

He pulled away and drew her against him, into his arms, and Rey had never felt so safe as when his massive wings unfurled and wrapped around them, cocooning her in his delightful smell of spring air and pine forests and his musky, masculine scent. She sighed, winding her arms around his neck.

“Rey, you have to trust me. Just a little longer.” He moved her away from his shoulder, tipping her head up with a knuckle to peer into her eyes. “Please.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“Hold onto me as tightly as you can,” he instructed. She did, and he scooped her up into his arms like she was already his bride, one arm under her knees and the other holding her close against his chest. He walked out onto the balcony over St. Bastila’s fountain, and Rey buried her head in his chest, terrified of what was about to happen. He glanced down and kissed her head. “You're alright. I would never drop you, Rey.”

She nodded, but didn't look up. She felt his muscles rippling as his whole body coiled for the leap, and gasped as his wings unfurled with a soft and heavy sound.

“Ready?” He asked again. She wasn't, but she couldn't think of any way to become  _ more  _ ready, so she just took a deep breath and wound her arms around him with all her strength. She kept her face buried as he leapt, her stomach turning somersaults as they fell a little before rising. His chest moved as his great inky wings pumped once, twice, and then they were gliding.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's one more thing,” he said softly, his eyes catching hers again. She found herself tracing his lips with her mind, and for a moment she didn't catch his words.
> 
> “Seraphim mate on the wing.”
> 
> “But I’m not -”
> 
> “It doesn't matter. I'll carry you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains references to RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT and wrongful EXECUTION. Continue at your own risk. Please note the added tags.
> 
> Also, yes Lady Mara is exactly the Mara you're thinking of ;)

“Rey,” he spoke her name so softly she hardly heard it over the rushing of the wind. Slowly, she lifted her head, looking up into his steady gaze. His lips twitched in a slight smile. “There you are. You should look. Up here, the world is so different.”

“If I am to be your bride, surely there will be other opportunities, my lord,” she murmured. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. “It feels wonderful. Soaring like this. I always wanted to tame a gryph when I was a child.”

“Perhaps you can try sometime. The gryphs of my land are large enough to ride, I think.” His chest expanded and contracted as he pumped his wings, and Rey lowered a hand without thinking, slipped beneath his thick vest to rest over the silk of his undershirt, feeling all the hard, shifting planes. He really was a massive creature, she realized, as her hand grew bolder and explored the expanse of muscle under her touch. She was not small for her kind, sidhe were an elegant and graceful fae, but not so fine-featured as nyxies or selkies, and he eclipsed her form entirely in his arms. 

“Why would I need a gryph when I have such a beautiful creature willing to carry me through the night already?” She dared, feeling uncharacteristically mischievous. He glanced down at her, and she gave him a shy smile.

“You're right. I’d never let anyone or anything else carry you into the sky,” he said fiercely. Rey’s eyes widened, and he sighed. “I suppose I should warn you now, I’m very jealous. And possessive.”

“Hmm- Oh, Kylo!” She gasped as they dropped suddenly and she clung to him desperately as he pumped his wings. Looking down at her, he grinned.

“It happens. There are updrafts and downdrafts.” He tightened his hold, adjusting her so she was more closely cradled to his chest. “It’s not all my wings, nothing my size could fly without strong magic, but once I’m up it conserves strength to glide as much as possible.”

“You use magic to fly?” She hoped he didn't mind her inquiry, she was genuinely curious. Rey was sheltered, but sharp-minded. Now that he'd pointed it out, it was obvious that he couldn't stay aloft without some kind of assistance, even with his massive wings obscuring the clouds around them.

“Hold your hand over the center of my chest,” he directed gently. She did gasping in surprise. How had she not noticed before?

“Your focus jewel!” Unable to stop herself, she traced the smooth expanse of stone, a round oval set into his body right where the hard muscle of his pectoral muscles met, dipping down just above his navel. It was warm against the cool night air, and she left her hand there, fingers splayed over it. She could almost feel his magic, like a familiar but quiet bit of music played in a far room, traces of red and blue sparkles swirled when she closed her eyes. 

Rey was quiet, holding the evidence of his ascendancy under her palm, trying desperately to keep her own sorrows at bay. But of course, he was more perceptive than that, and he felt the evidence in the shaking of her shoulders.

“My lady? Are you well?”

“I’m afraid you will have to accustom yourself to my moods, and for that I apologize,” she drew in a ragged breath that was somewhere between a sigh and a sob. “I know I cannot change the past, it's useless to dwell on the things I might have had, but try as I might, my heart is always a bit heavy. I don't begrudge you your power, I just…”

“You mourn for it. For the completion you were robbed of.” His voice hardened and he hugged her tightly. “Oh, my young princess. I wish I could share with you - so many things. Please don't feel the need to hide your sorrow. It is the duty of a husband and wife to share joy and sorrow together.”

“But we are not yet married, my lord. You may still find I am unsuitable.” She let him hold her close, settling her head under his chin. “I pray that you don’t, but life has been cruel to me, and this much hope is a foreign and frightening thing.”

“No, I forbid you to speak that way.” He replied with steel in his voice. “You will be my wife, Rey, and I will help you - I will never send you back to those people. I know everything is moving so quickly, and you have the right to be frightened, but do not fear of me deserting you. Please, just grant me your trust a little longer.”

“Alright. Alright.” She nestled her head against his clothes, sighing and twining both arms around his neck. Her fingers combed idly through the hair that spilled just past his collar, and he shivered suddenly. 

“Rey,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. He tensed suddenly, his head whipping up as he peered around them, and Rey grunted as he held her painfully tight. “We have to land, I’m sorry. I wanted to be back in the Wastelands before - but I believe we are being tracked.”

“What? Why would we be tracked?” She clutched at him as she tried to look around, but his massive wings and shoulders obscured her view. It was dark, black night all around them, and all she could make out was the stars above them and bits of forested hills below. “Kylo?”

“Look below and to the left. That flock of wyvern coming up from the trees,” he directed. She bit her lip and leaned forward just enough to see what he directed her attention to. The silver and blue wings of the little flying dragons shimmered in the moonlight as they spiraled upwards, their indignant cries just barely reaching her ears.

“They should be sleeping now, it's too cold for them at night,” she frowned as the tops of the treeline further down shifted, though there was no pattern of wind around them. “There's someone there,” she whispered.

“I knew this was too easy,” he sighed, adjusting her weight in his arms. “Someone in your father's court doesn't want you to leave Coruscant.”

Rey glanced back down with wide eyes. Could it be? Were they really trying to assassinate her this way? She had to admit, it was something Kreia might do. She couldn't risk it while the princess was still at court, too many people would see the situation as undeniably suspicious, and Paige’s testimony and execution had already cast aspersions on her father's court. But to do it now, when they had the foreign prince upon which to place blame…

“Oh, Kylo, you musn’t let them catch us, they will try and blame you for anything that happens! My father had one of my ladies executed -”

“I know, Rey. I’m - I will protect you, I swear. But I cannot speak freely while we are still in your father's kingdom, and my magic can only encompass what it recognizes as mine. I can protect us both, but...” He spoke quietly against her hair. “Forgive me. The - the assault you endured - is it true? Your father's envoy was… explicit in detail. Some of my mother's ladies had to leave the room.”

“I don’t actually remember much,” she admitted after a moment to gather her thoughts. “It was my fourteenth name day. I had just - I had my first moon blood that winter.” She swallowed, hating the necessity of telling him, but unable to deny him the right to know. “I went to a small tavern with my maid, Paige, and my cousin Mara and her betrothed. I was always forbidden to leave the castle, but there was a traveling storyteller I wished very much to see. He refused an invitation to the court, so I asked my ladies to help me sneak out.”

“The emissary said it was a plot by your cousin, to rob you of your birthright so her father, the Marquise of Cloud City, could put forward his family's claim,” he prompted.

“Yes. So they told me. It is still hard for me to believe. Mara was my friend, she was a great comfort to me when my mother died, and she and her father were the only sidhe left at court.” 

She didn't want to be obscure, but in truth she had always suspected there was something else involved in the incident. It had her step-mother's awful stench all over it, especially the healers she'd summoned from her own lands to tend Rey. She had learned quickly what to say, what phrases to repeat and how to conceal and curb her own thoughts. It was ingrained habit now, of necessity for those few in her father's court who might be seen to offer her sympathy. She decided the fate of Rose’s sister would be a safe way to make him see how difficult it was for her to speak clearly, and his response would tell her all she needed about where his sympathies stood.

“My father tried to have Uncle Lando and Lady Mara arrested, but my maidservant, Paige, heard the gossip from my step-sisters and warned them. She was tried before the full court for treason, and hanged publicly. She could have saved her own life by changing her story, my father offered her exile and even marriage to a landed noble in the countryside, but…” Rey swallowed. “She refused to be bought or persuaded. Even at the gallows, she was yelling to the crowd that the Marquise was the only true servant of the land, that Mara and her betrothed were assaulted and restrained from coming to my aid… That I screamed and fought and the men were part of Kreia’s personal guard…”

She closed her eyes, gulping for air as she waited to hear his response. He was very still for a long time, but his grip over her remained steady and strong as he scanned below them for a safe place to land.

“Reyna. Listen to me. I have no doubt that you fought. No fourteen-year-old princess would…” His jaw snapped shut and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he tried to find the right words. “No one could ever convince me that what happened to you was in any way your fault. Don't -” He stopped her as she started to speak. “Don’t repeat that asinine propaganda your father and step-mother created. You know it's not true. Deep down, you know. Your lady died defending your honor. Do you really believe she would have done so if she had not witnessed precisely what she claimed?”

Rey gasped, the shock of it hitting her as if she were there again in court, watching her dear friend sob openly as she detailed what she'd witnessed, sobbing herself because… Because it was true. Every word of it was true, she didn't remember much beyond the haze of pain and shock, but she remembered Mara’s eyes filled with impotent fury, holding her gaze, purposefully sharing her pain in the only way she could. For a long time, she just cried. Her hand dropped to trace the jewel in his chest, covering it with her palm, and he said nothing but for the occasional soothing sounds as he kissed the top of her head.

“Kylo. When we arrive at your mother's court… Do you think it would be possible… for me to have correspondence with my cousin?” She hazarded finally.

“Absolutely.” He heaved a great sigh, his chest expanding widely beneath her splayed fingers. “There's absolutely no way to make this okay, Rey, but I need to protect you, so it has to happen, and I’m sorry for it, but that's why I had to know about your past.”

“I don’t understand, my lord-”

“If we mate, I can protect you with my magic. The natural laws of the realms have no care for ceremonies or titles, they recognize only the primal aspects,” he explained quickly.

Rey peered up at him, but he was too busy looking for a landing space to notice her. Or maybe he was shy. Either way, she gave a little shrug.

“It’s not proper, but I suppose it doesn't matter much when we first lie together. There's no visit to the priests or healers to worry over, and you have given your word repeatedly that you will not discard me, so…”

“You are agreeable, then?” He did look down at her this time, just a quick glance, but she could see the concern and conflict in his expressive eyes.

“My lord, if it is your will, I can think of very little I could do to stop you, nor do I feel there is any reason to.” 

She didn't understand his hesitation. Certainly he found her attractive, he had said so the first time they met on the roof. She wasn't a maiden, and he’d made it clear he wanted her anyway. It wasn't entirely appropriate for a prince to bed his bride on the grass in the dark, days before their wedding, but she wasn't a particularly snobbish person. Soft grass and green trees were a fine enough setting for her, given that she spent most of her days collecting herbs or reading a book nestled into the branches of her favorite tree.

“I would never - I don’t own you, Rey. If you truly find the idea abhorrent, I am not a man who will force my will upon you just because you are my wife. That’s not… I was raised with better morals than to think such a thing acceptable.” He seemed to be having trouble explaining himself, his voice a low murmur she could barely make out over the wind of their flight.

“I believe you. But I assure you, I spend much of my time enjoying the outdoors.” She chuckled softly into his neck. “I hope you weren't expecting me to abide by the higher standards of propriety, because I care very little for it. I am not really accustomed to the finer aspects of court that ladies like my sisters have trained for, having never been welcome at my father's side since my - since the assault. So if it pleases you to find a soft bit of grass, I shall lay down my cloak and welcome your embrace.”

Her heart pounded, making a lie of her exterior calm, but she found herself warm all over at the idea of him taking her this way. There was just enough vulgarity in it to send a thrill up her spine, and the thought of their heated kiss before he took flight filled her mind.

“You would… welcome me? Truly?” He gazed down, eyes widening as he saw the desire flaring in hers. “Rey. Reyna. I promise, I will treat you as well as I am able, saints help me. There is pleasure in it, I swear to you-”

“I believe you,” she whispered earnestly. She did, actually. His arms around her were strong and warm, his hair soft as silk between her fingers, and his kiss had been enough to give her a taste for the heat he kindled in her body.

“There's one more thing,” he said softly, his eyes catching hers again. She found herself tracing his lips with her mind, and for a moment she didn't catch his words.

“Seraphim mate on the wing.”

“But I’m not -”

“It doesn't matter. I'll carry you.”

“Oh…” 

She had no idea how to respond to that. Every way she tried to imagine it just seemed awkward and frightening, but she wanted very badly to trust him. She would find out soon enough, she thought, with a not entirely unpleasant shiver.

“There's a creek bed up here. I’m going to land. Hold tight.”

“Alright.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Yes. You are mine now, little sidhe, only mine, so you'd best hope I’m not just drawn in by your magical allure. Are you ready?” His wings unfurled, and she wrapped her legs around him and twined her arms around his neck as tightly as she was able. His strong hands held her bottom firmly, and she felt his muscles coiling to spring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update because I love you guys! 
> 
> In case you've never read any of my other stuff... I don't do slow burn so... Yeah.

When they first landed, Rey begged a moment to wash herself in the water, and Kylo gathered enough to refill his canteen and left her to it while he collected branches and driftwood for a small fire.

When she came back, he didn't speak for a moment, and she just sat on the grass beside him, letting him take her hand in his and turn it over to trace the palm. He thumbed her signet ring and after a moment he twisted it around to examine more carefully.

“This is the Kenobi family crest.” He murmured, his eyes searching hers. “I thought St. Obi-wan was the last.”

“Well. The story is that he gave the ring to my great-aunt, Setine Kryze, who left it to my mother for… some reason.” She gave him a knowing wink. “Of course, you know my mother was never aware of who her father was. My grandmother refused to name him, even on her deathbed, but she gave my mother the ring and told her that was the only answer she could give.” She studied the sword-and-star symbol with him. “I've been told I take after her. My great-aunt. My mother did, too.”

“Hmm. How very curious.” He smiled, returning her speculative gaze, and brought her hand to his lips, kissing her palm and then her wrist with his soft, hot mouth. “Undress for me?”

He asked so gently, his warm eyes fixed on her, she felt almost comfortable, hesitant and shy, but not afraid. Of course, he had no idea how to unlace her bodice or undo the ties of her breeches, that's why noblewomen had ladies and servants. Normally he would come to her after her women had already helped her into bed. Or at least that was Rey's basic understanding from the way her father's court ran.

She supposed she knew nothing of the ways of the noblesse fae, apart from Mara and her mother, Coruscant was mostly populated by the common dannan, as was the court, with a few solitary enclaves of naiads or dryads here and there, and the selkies in the riverlands and along the coast. Traditionally, the land was meant to be ruled by the sidhe of her family, who were bound to it long ago through an ancient ritual by St. Bastila, but their line would end with Rey, she supposed. There was a chance her children could be sidhe, and they would be within their rights to present a claim, but she knew Kreia would never give up the kingdom without a costly war. Hopefully, Kylo’s blood would be stronger, but she forced herself not to obsess and borrow trouble from tomorrow.

Of the other noblesse fae, she had seen very little - the Wastelands held seraphim and ifreet, each small kingdom with its own ruling house like Kylo's, and they were proud and distant. The sidhe of Cloud City were forbidden from the kingdom after her assault, and even the commoners of that land avoided Snoke’s court. She had seen nyxies once when they came to pay their respects at her mother's passing, and once in a while she watched the selkie traders bringing goods in from the courtyard, but there were none living in the palace besides herself, and she had not dared to try and befriend anyone again.

Kylo’s eyes scorched her skin as she forced herself to do as he asked, her fingers trembling slightly. She unfastened her cloak first, draping it out over the grass carefully, and then she nervously unlaced her bodice with some effort, grateful for the simple, front-laced style. She set it aside and toed off her boots, followed by her breeches. Kylo watched her avidly, leaning forward as she faced him in her undertunic, the hem just barely brushing her thighs. His gaze settled back up on her face after staring with naked desire at her bare thighs and thinly-concealed breasts. He licked his lip and she blushed all the way down to her chest.

“My lord…?” She asked softly, hesitantly.

“You're beautiful… How old are you, Rey?”

“I'll be eighteen in a month,” she answered quietly. “But I assure you, I’m… I’m perfectly healthy, I can bear children. I had Rose sneak in an old dryad healer to make sure… I never trusted the physicians at court.”

“I wouldn't trust them either,” he smiled, getting to his feet. “I believe I’m a bit overdressed, don’t you think?”

She returned his smile, sitting on her knees over her cloak to watch him, her turn to admire with interest as he unfastened his belt, letting it fall where he stood, followed by the slitted vest that fit over his wings. He had to fold and then extend them to get it off, and she couldn't help but admire the way the feathers shifted so gracefully and his chest muscles moved as he freed himself. He wore long leather bracers on his arms, which she noticed he didn't unlace completely, just loosened and tossed aside. She frowned suddenly, a curiosity coming into her mind as her eyes followed his armor.

“Kylo?”

“Yes?”

“Why do you wear armor, but no weapon?”

He paused, studying her expression closely, but he didn't seem to have taken offense. Instead he gave an amused little half-smile and picked up one of his bracers, sliding it back over his arm.

“Blades of more than a handspan are forbidden in Coruscant. But lest you think me unarmed…” He made a gesture she didn't quite catch, and a long blade of crackling red fire blazed to life in his hand.

Rey sat up, completely enthralled. Any magic she had seen before seemed like mere cantrips compared to this, and it was so close she could feel the energy flaring and flickering, a taste of cinnamon teasing her lips. The entire weapon seemed to be born of flame, from the tip to to hilt, and a crossguard of white-hot fire flared out over his closed fist. He gave it a little flourish, and she realized her mouth was open as he grinned and twisted his wrist, banishing his impressive weapon back from wherever it came.

“How…” Rey swallowed to wet her dry throat, eyes finally returning to his face, seeing his slightly arrogant smirk. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Is it an enchantment?”

“My most impressive piece, yes. It's supposed to be blue fire, but I haven't quite managed to get it to stay blue,” he examined the woven leather and polished steel for a moment. “My uncle says I have too much passion in my heart.”

“Your magic is red and blue.” She blushed at his sharp look. “I felt it when we were flying.”

“You felt my magic?” He raised his brows in surprise. Rey shrugged, rubbing her hands over her arms at the cool evening breeze.

“I can usually feel magic when it's around, but there aren't any fae in the castle besides me. Not since the Marquise’s people fled. Sometimes I watch the selkies that come to trade in the yard. Their magic smells like moss and tastes of salt. I can feel it when I’m allowed to get close enough.” She smiled wistfully at the thought of the secretive traders with their shells and beads and tanned skin. “What about your homeland? Are there others besides seraphim in your court?”

“There are… many kinds at my mother’s court. I can’t wait for you to meet them. My father is a selkie,” he said with a wry smile. “He used to be a pirate, believe it or not.”

“No! Surely you're joking!” He shook his head, still smirking at her and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Tell me more!”

“Later,” he promised, his eyes glinting with heat suddenly. “Now… We have other tasks to attend to.”

Her eyes widened as his hands reached for the lacings of his pants, and he smirked, teasing her by dropping to unlace his boots instead. Her pulse raced as he slowly and deliberately removed the rest of his clothes. When he was done, he stood before her, naked and beautiful in the flickering light, his wings and hair a stunning contrast to his pale skin, the onyx stone in his chest glinting darkly. He sat beside her and she found her eyes drawn to… Well. Kylo was so massive in other respects, she really should have expected...

“Rey?” He raised his eyebrows when she turned her gaze to his eyes, and her cheeks burned as she hastily removed the rest of her clothing, kneeling beside him uncertainly.

He started by pulling her into his lap. Rey wasn't sure what to expect, given what he’d said about mating in the sky, but she thought he would want to be on top of her to begin with. She felt awkward, unsure of how to move, but he kissed her and stroked her body with his warm hands until she relaxed and let herself melt into his gentle caresses.

“You're so beautiful, Rey.” His thumb grazed over the tip of her pointed ear and she leaned into it appreciatively. No one had ever touched her like he did, as if she were fragile and soft like a delicate flower. “You deserve a soft mattress and silk sheets and a servant to bring you breakfast in the morning…” His hands had stayed mostly on her arms and down the outside of her thighs, but he gently drew her hair back from her neck and flattened them against the bare skin of her back. He leaned in, trailing soft kisses across her shoulders and over her throat, and Rey shivered, making a little sound of pleasure.

“I don’t,” she said in a pained voice. “You know I-”

He placed a long finger over her lips, begging her to be silent. “I do not hold you responsible for what happened to you, in  _ any _ way. Remember?”

“But, surely you -” He shook his head, and she wilted under the flare of anger in those beautiful eyes, looking down. “As you wish, Kylo.”

“I promise you, Lady Reyna, you will be as a queen in my mother's court. It is nothing like your father's realm.” His tone as he spoke of her father was cold and hateful, though Rey did not quite understand why. “Our wedding will be everything you deserve and more. But first, I have to get you there safely.”

“I understand, my lord.” He continued, kissing the base of her throat, and she lifted her hands, daring to do what she had wished to since she first saw him. One hand trailed over the top curve of his wing, while the other threaded fingers through his hair.

Kylo groaned softly, his hands pulling her closer, and Rey felt a hot tangle of nerves spark in her abdomen and slowly spread throughout her body. He held her face in one long hand and kissed her lips once more, firmly holding her against him. He opened his mouth over hers, and when she gasped at the touch of his tongue, he pushed it past her lips, slanting his face against hers to more thoroughly taste her. That strange boldness he evoked surged in her, and she gripped his hair, tugging him down as if he could get any closer, and tentatively sucked on his exploring tongue. He groaned again and she giggled, the sound softened and muffled between their mouths, and doubled her effort, to be rewarded by his mouth breaking away and trailing down her neck and shoulders in a passionate sweep.

He slipped a hand between them, where his hard chest crushed up against her breasts, and Rey moaned in spite of herself when his thumb caressed her nipple. She swallowed it quickly, gripping his hair and shoulder tightly as he continued to kiss down the other side of her neck, sucking at the flesh there. She had to stop herself from making the wanton noises she felt rise in her throat, so she moved instead, rising up on her knees, firmly gripping the back of his head to let him know how much she enjoyed having his mouth on her body.

Suddenly his hands were on her back again, lifting her and tipping her backward so he could pull her nipple into his mouth, and her whole body strained with the agony of keeping silent. Her heart pounded, and she felt she could hardly breathe, enchanted by all the new, wonderful pleasures he drew upon her body.

“Kylo,” she gasped, hoping he did not think her voice too vulgar. “I must confess, I -”

She took a shaking, halting breath as he kissed between her breasts, and then pulled her back against him and slipped his hand between them, his long fingers brushing against the groomed thatch of hair between her legs.

“What… What magic is this? What are you doing to me?” She asked finally. It wasn't that she was frightened, even in such a short time, she had come to trust that he had no desire to hurt her, but she was curious, especially when it came to mystical arts. But he laughed, pressing a kiss into her neck, and drew away to look down at her.

“Magic? This is not magic, sweetheart. It’s…” He peered down at her inquisitive expression and smiled, moving his fingers gently until they reached some secret part that made her breath catch and she had to close her eyes, shaking with the effort to keep silent.

“Whatever it is, it's wonderful,” she breathed, opening her eyes to find him watching her intently. His fingers caressed her, slowly, and she trembled, clutching at his hair and shoulder desperately. “Oh, my lord, please, please… If you keep doing that, I’m afraid I… I cannot remain as quiet as a lady should be…”

“Then don’t,” he said quickly. “I want to hear you. Sing for me, Rey, so I know what pleases you.”

Her eyes widened at that, and as if determined to prove it, he caressed her more firmly while applying his mouth again to her neck, sucking and grazing it with his teeth until it was almost painful, eliciting a soft whimper from Rey's lips.

“Yes, yes. It’s alright,” he encouraged. “I promise, Rey, it's alright.”

He dropped his head to lick and suck her nipples again, and she moaned at the feel of his teeth there. Heat bloomed deep inside her, something that made her spread her thighs further and tilt her head back, and a persistent expansion that demanded  _ more _ made her shift and whine restlessly. He pressed his lips against her ear.

“Are you close, my love?” Rey had no idea what he was asking, she could only whine, opening her eyes to look into his. He tried a different question. “Tell me what you need more of, and I'll do it. I'll do anything you wish, Rey.”

“I…” She hesitated. Surely it wasn't wrong to ask, he was going to be her husband, and he only wanted to please her, but she was so afraid. “Will you… before we… Can you reach inside me… with your fingers? I’m afraid it will hurt and -”

“Of course!” His enthusiastic response made her smile. “I don't want to hurt you, not ever. I will spend all night if we must,” he promised. With gentle hands, he encouraged her to lie back on her spread cloak, and then he had to encourage her to open her legs by kissing slowly down the inside of her thighs until she relaxed again. “Rey. I wish to try something, if you find you don’t like it just tell me and I'll stop, I promise. I just want to please you, and I don’t… I haven't had much practice pleasuring a woman, so I really need you to tell me if you're uncomfortable. Please?”

She couldn't see him as well this way, in the near-dark with only the embers of the fire burning nearby, but she could feel the feathers of his wings brush soft and warm against her skin, and knew he was kneeling between her legs. Hesitantly, she relaxed, enjoying the pleasant tickle of feathers, and found her voice.

“Alright,” she nodded, hoping he saw it. “I trust you.”

He’d said he wanted to hear her, and she was quite grateful, because it would have been absolutely impossible to hold her silence once he started using his tongue.

“Are you well, my love?”

“Oh yes! Yes, Kylo, that’s…” She had no words to even describe such a feeling. It was like silk sheets and warm cider and a hot bath all at once. His tongue caressed where his fingers had been, and she spared a second of thought for Rose, who taught her how to groom herself with the little cosmetic scissors. Hopefully they were still in the bag of personal items she'd thrown together. “Oh, I think…” She panted, her head tossed against the fabric of her cloak. “Kylo… Your fingers… please!”

She felt him drag his fingertips through her wet body, feeling for her entrance, and she unashamedly widened her legs, giving him more room. When he slowly slipped one long finger inside of her easily enough, he added another, moving them in a firm rhythm while his tongue caressed her, and something flared, bright and liquid and hot within her.

Rey cried out as her body convulsed and Kylo's movements slowed, but he didn't stop, and it drew out her pleasure longer, leaving her panting and trembling. He sat up on his knees again, watching her chest rise and fall, and she saw his lips shine with her wetness in the faint light.

“Oh,” she hunted for the inner pocket of her cloak, finally coming up with a handkerchief and sitting up to wipe his mouth. “Thank you, my lord... That was… transcendent.”

He laughed, leaning in to kiss her lips, giving her a faint taste of her own flavor mixed with his, which was not unpleasant. “Transcendent? I didn't know you were so gifted with words, my lady.”

“Well, it seems hard to believe, but…. you've only known me for a single day. I have little to do but read or go riding, so... it's only natural I have a wide vocabulary.” She happened to glance down, thinking perhaps she ought to clean herself, but her eyes caught on the swollen length of his manhood and she gasped. Sidhe were sturdier than their graceful forms and lithe limbs made them appear, but… From this vantage he seemed even larger, and while she knew she wasn't going to just break apart, she had no idea how he was going to fit inside her small body… She sucked in a breath and sat back.

“I know,” he said softly. “That’s why I-”

Rey nodded thoughtfully. He was a good man, her prince. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting her, and he knew that he would if he wasn't very, very careful. Now she understood his strained decision. His magic only protected his people, and in order to be  _ his _ , he had to make her his wife. Not by man’s law, but by the old laws, the magic of the land, and that meant mating, truly and fully like every natural creature. She bit her lip and reached out, pausing when she heard his breath catch.

“Kylo? May I-”

“Yes, of course. Please…”

Gently, she did, although she was hesitant at first. Her long fingers didn't quite meet around him until she squeezed just a little, and he groaned under her touch as she ran her fingers over the tip. It was soft as silk there, and she caught a bead of his spill on her thumb and unthinkingly brought it to her tongue. He watched her, chuckling softly as she scrunched her nose at the taste.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what I expected.” For a moment they stared at each other, and then she giggled too.

“I wouldn't know,” he said, trying and failing to sound solemn, which only made her laugh more. She held out her thumb invitingly, one eyebrow raised, and he gave her a wide-eyed stare.

“Well? I dare you, my lord. I tasted mine when you kissed me.” She reached out, trying to touch her fingertips to his lips, and he held her wrist gently away from him. “You said you'd do anything I wished,” she teased.

“Hm. I did, didn't I?” He lowered his mouth to suck on each finger independently, ending with her thumb, and she watched him, giggling as he made a face. “It’s not that bad.”

She smirked. “If you could see your face, I think you'd find that hard to believe.”

He shook his head, peering down at her, and a slow, sly smile reached his lips.

“Take me in your mouth, Rey.”

“What!?” Her eyes dropped from him to  _ him _ and back, shocked. He couldn't possibly mean… But he clearly did. She felt her breath quicken at the thought.

“I did it for you,” he pointed out. She glanced back to his face, frowning and conflicted. It was a tantalizing thought. He made such lovely sounds of pleasure, Rey felt compelled to try it, to see if she could fit her mouth around him and elicit more of those sounds, but they didn't really have the luxury of time.

“I… I don’t mind, really, but…” She met his gaze, her eyes soft and apologetic. “I feel we're wasting time as it is…”

“You're right. Forgive me. I got a bit carried away,” he grinned as he crawled forward, forcing her to lie back. “You'll have to owe me, I suppose.”

“I shall make it up to you gladly, my lord, when next we are together,” she promised eagerly. Kylo smiled, giving her a quick kiss on her lips and throat, before he moved further down her body.

He dipped his head once more, licking from her entrance to the sensitive place just at the top of her folds, and swirled his tongue before he positioned himself above her. His hand reached down, and he gathered her wetness on his fingers before he eased two inside of her again. Rey let her head fall back, relaxing under his touch, reminding herself how wonderful it felt before. He built up a steady rhythm, until he could fit three, and she moaned and whimpered at the sharp feeling of being filled.

“Wait, Kylo, please… let me… be still a moment,” she begged. He stopped and she adjusted her body, reaching down to spread herself so it didn't pinch as much. When she nodded he gently moved his fingers again, and Rey sighed in relief. “That’s better. Thank you.”

“Does it hurt?” He asked, watching her face. She shook her head, reaching her arms up to draw him into a kiss.

“No, not at all.” Kylo pressed his tongue against her lips and she opened her mouth readily this time, returning his fervent caress with her own, even sucking his full lip into her mouth greedily. He groaned against her kiss, and held his lips sealed over hers while he curled his hand and firmly pushed in all four fingers, pausing as she whimpered and panted.

“Rey?”

“I… It's alright, just let me breathe,” she snapped a little too quickly. Curse all the gods, it  _ did _ hurt, but she was  _ not _ going to let him know that. He seemed worried, but she thrust her fingers into his thick hair and tugged his head down to her neck. “I need your mouth to calm me, please. Like you were before, on my neck and my…”

He understood, clearly, his lips and tongue gliding over her collarbone, sucking her flesh until it stung and then soothing it with his tongue. He took her nipple in his mouth and stroked with his tongue, and slowly, slowly she relaxed and let her legs fall wide, inviting him to continue.

Rey moaned when his knuckles breached her, but it wasn't quite pain, it was a heaviness, a fullness that was unfamiliar but… She felt her breath stutter as the heat from before coiled within her.

“Kylo,” she gasped in surprise. He rose up and looked at her searchingly, taking in her wide eyes and heaving chest. He curled his hand experimentally, and Rey cried out, arching her back and thrusting her hips against him. He blinked at her in surprise.

“Are you ready to-”

“Yes. Yes, I want to, please,” she begged. She almost whined when he removed his hand, but it was replaced quickly with something better, and she closed her eyes. Like his hand, it hurt at first, the stretch was different, but once his head was fully inside, she just felt filled, overwhelmed by him in a way that was so incredibly satisfying. “Oh,  _ oh _ ! I… it's a lot, but, I… I like this…”

“Oh, Rey. Reyna. My princess,” he leaned his head against her shoulder. “You feel as though you were made for me. Please tell me if it hurts, I…  _ Gods _ . I love you already.”

She blinked. Was he even aware that he said it? Of course she was going to be his wife, but she had always been told that love had nothing to do with marriage. Perhaps if one was lucky, love came later, but he'd known her for only a day. And yet…Perhaps it could be. But she felt compelled to remind him, in case he didn't know the innate powers of the sidhe.

“It's just the allure, my lord. Not having a jewel doesn't make me any less of a sidhe,” she smiled apologetically, and he shrugged as he moved slowly inside of her. It felt so lovely, she had never experienced anything so wonderful, and she wanted it to go on forever.

“We'll see,” he murmured against her neck. “Rey. There's something I have to do, still, remember?”

She nodded, remembering his explanation of how seraphim mate, and she swallowed a sudden surge of fear. “I’m going to move you now so I’m all the way inside you, because if it's not done carefully, I could hurt you quite badly.”

“Okay,” she agreed, letting him pull her legs around him. He wrapped his arms beneath her and lifted, holding her to his chest as he sat up, and she felt him slip deeper within her as her legs fell over his hips.

“Kylo,” she moaned into his neck, so overwhelmed with the way he felt deep within her. She slipped her hand down and leaned back, just to see, laying her palm across the lower part of her abdomen and pressing in slightly.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” he murmured, realizing what she was doing.

She gave a half-laugh. “You shouldn't speak so, in the presence of your lady!”

“I will speak however I wish, wife,” he protested weakly. “You are the one performing such vulgar acts.”

“Is it so terrible to want to feel you in my body?” She asked, half to herself. “I was only curious. You're so deep… I feel like I truly belong to you this way…”

“Yes. You are mine now, little sidhe, only mine, so you'd best hope I’m not just drawn in by your magical allure. Are you ready?” His wings unfurled, and she wrapped her legs around him and twined her arms around his neck as tightly as she was able. His strong hands held her bottom firmly, and she felt his muscles coiling to spring.

“I’m ready,” she whispered, burying her face in his neck.

“I've got to use a bit of magic to lift off from the ground, don’t be scared if you feel something strange.”

“Okay.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well, what am I to do now? You promised me the girl would be mine. I took her maidenhood, she belongs to me!” He stood up, looking down his nose at Kreia, and her eyes widened slightly.
> 
> “You must be more of a fool than I thought. Think carefully, General.” She got to her feet with the aid of her polished silver cane, standing almost of a heighth with him. “Do you really feel it wise to take such a tone with me?”
> 
> “I misspoke,” he said in a choked voice. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I only want what was promised to me. Marriage into your house, an estate and command commensurate with such a title.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Refrences to/implied rape. No graphic descriptions, but just in case.

She had felt it before, seen the swirl of red and blue behind her closed eyes, but Kylo’s magic swirled so vibrantly now she could taste it, cinnamon and heated metal, and it wrapped around them like a warm blanket as he launched into the sky. He caught an updraft and the magic dissipated somewhat, but Rey kept her face buried in his neck, her soft moans muffled by the wind. She found she could taste his magic in his skin, and she couldn’t stop herself from darting her tongue out to trace the corded muscle of his neck before she sucked his flesh between her teeth. Kylo purred with pleasure, his head thrown back, giving her more room to taste him, his hands like a vice around her body. His hips moved with each beat of his wings as they soared higher, and she felt every movement of his body as he held her firmly, taking her as if she were no more than a ragdoll in his arms.

It was thrilling, she couldn't deny that, and the way he moved so far inside her teased out the heat in her stomach again, spreading it through her until her body sang and she clung to him so tightly she felt his blood under her fingernails. Still, she craved more, she wanted him to move inside of her, to spend himself and give and take everything.

She whispered it to to him as he continued to climb, thrusting higher and higher as she begged for  _ more _ , until Rey was shivering with cold and desperate with need. All at once he groaned and swelled within her and his wings closed in, sending them spiraling back down. A thrill of excitement she had never imagined feeling filled Rey's body as they fell, and she shook and trembled through a second pinnacle, richer than before, just as Kylo crushed her body against his and spun, his wings snapping out beneath them.

He used his magic to bring them down as gently as possible, unable to land gracefully with her in his arms like this, and Rey caught another fascinating taste of it on her lips. Kylo carried her to where they had spread her cloak and their clothes, gently lifting her to separate them. She gave a soft whimper of distress.

“I know, sweetheart, I know.”

“I love you,” she whispered, half-asleep. “I mean, I believe I could… I feel very deeply for you already.”

He smiled as he draped his split vest over her like a blanket, kissing her cheek and ear softly. “Shhh… Go to sleep, my beautiful wife.”

 

He waited until she did, knowing she would wake later to keep the sacred hour with him, but needing just a moment to use the water spell to contact his mother.

“Well?”

He sighed. “You know you were right. Why do you insist on making me admit it?”

“Because I'm your mother. That’s what we do.” She smiled into her teacup, or whatever she was using to view him. “You're already in love with her. I can tell.”

“She's a sidhe, Mother, there's no way to know that so soon-”

“Ben. You’re a worse liar than your father,” she teased. “Now bring her home so we can start planning.”

“You mean plotting. To get my wife back her rightful throne. Don’t think I don’t know what you're really excited about.” He smirked into the water bowl.

“What an uncouth son you are! I am your queen mother! Have you no faith in me at all?” She shook a finger at him. “You know I am fully capable of planning a wedding and plotting a rebellion at the same time.”

“Of course.” He grinned. “But I am your child. It’s my job to question your wisdom.”

“You are far too much like me for your own good,” she returned his smile, but it faded all too quickly. “Any trouble with Fomorians?”

He dragged a hand through his hair, causing his mother to lean forward, her eyes sharp. “Tell me, Ben.”

“We were followed. I had to… I can't fight and fly and you know my protections only extend to my own people, so we…” he glanced away, unable to meet his mother's knowing gaze. “It's alright, she's alright, I haven't felt any dark magic and Rey is resting comfortably. Whoever followed us, they have no power to resist my barrier of protection now.”

“Oh, son. I don't even know what to say. Is she really alright?” He spared a glance at the sleeping form of his bride, watching her clutch his clothes tighter with her graceful hands.

A faint smile touched her lips, beautiful and fleeting like a flight of gryphs, and he knew in that moment his feelings were stronger than just the sidhe allure. He would be hers forever, he would fight for her rightful throne, help her gain the power she had been denied and then kneel in fealty before her.

“Yes, she's alright mother. I would burn my entire kingdom to the ground and fall upon my sword before I willingly harmed her.” He turned back to see his mother's smug smile had returned. “She's curled up with my clothes tucked around her, sleeping like a cat on a warm hearth.”

“‘Just the sidhe allure’, hmm?”

“I want a wedding that will spoken of for decades to come. Lace and magic and every fae in the kingdom there to witness it,” he told her emphatically. Leia said nothing, just nodded sagely with her little satisfied smile. “And we will find a way to help her ascend. She's not eighteen until next month. I know it's not long enough, but… We have to try, Mother. You were right, I think she is a Kenobi. She has their signet.”

“Ben, you know I will do everything in my power for her. And you. Luke has been doing some research, and I've been speaking to Ahsoka… They’re skeptical, but optimistic. But it all depends on her.”

“I have faith in her, Mother. I didn't think so at first, but… she's much wiser than I expected.” He sighed, dragging a hand over his face, feeling the rough skin that he hadn't had a chance to shave. “I beg you, pray with me to every god and saint you know, for her sake as well as ours. We need her. I need her.”

“I've been making offerings every day, my dear. Ahsoka and Luke have, too.” She eyed him critically. “You look exhausted. Go cuddle your wife, you've both had a long day."

 

 

"This is absolutely ridiculous!”

Lady Kreia did not so much as flinch when the hot-tempered dannan slammed his fist on the edge of her desk. One of her golden calligraphy quills rolled slightly out of place, and she carefully put it back, her face expressionless.

“You would do well to calm yourself, Armitage,” was her only mild response.

The red-haired young man had distinguished himself to Snoke for his ruthlessness almost immediately when he joined their castle guard in his teens, but when he successfully orchestrated the death of his own father, Kreia had taken him under her wing. To fully ensure his loyalty, she had tasked him with a very special mission, and promised certain things in reward. His willingness to take part in such vile acts of violence and treason had not surprised her, but the fact that he believed he could keep a sidhe on his personal leash made it clear he lacked the wisdom of a true leader.

This served Kreia quite well, although General Hux would never realize it. She needed an easily-manipulated puppet, not a liability that could possibly pull off an effective coup. The Queen Regent steepled her hands below her lips, regarding the young man before her. Of course he’d been no match against the seraph’s magic. Did he really think they would allow him to bring the true heir back into the kingdom and keep her for himself?

“I assume you followed them to be sure they crossed the border?” Of course, Snoke’s orders had been to kill them both, as if a common, nonmagical cadre of a dozen dannan guardsmen could accomplish such a feat. Her husband knew better, of course, but they had to keep their tools sharpened, and General Hux’s impotent rage was a useful tool.

“Yes, they slept at the edge of the Low Country until dawn, and then crossed the sand barrier early in the morning. I did send a man over the border -”

“Unnecessary,” Kreia dismissed. She did not care about the life of a single soldier, but Armitage was always so desperate to test all things magical, as if he just could not accept the fact that a power existed in the world which would forever be denied him. “I take it he did not return.”

“No one ever does,” Hux sighed. “What do the ifreet do with them, do you know?”

“It’s been said they trap the souls for use in their enchantments, but I am not an expert in the ways of magic. Perhaps the king could tell you more,” she suggested with a slight shrug.

“Well, what am I to do now? You promised me the girl would be  _ mine. _ I took her maidenhood, she belongs to me!” He stood up, looking down his nose at Kreia, and her eyes widened slightly.

“You must be more of a fool than I thought. Think carefully, General.” She got to her feet with the aid of her polished silver cane, standing almost of a heighth with him. “Do you really feel it wise to take such a tone with me?”

“I misspoke,” he said in a choked voice. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I only want what was promised to me. Marriage into your house, an estate and command commensurate with such a title.”

“Ah, I forget how single-minded young men can be.” She gave a dry chortle. “Never fear, General. In case it has escaped your notice, the king and I have two other daughters.”

She watched him carefully as he processed her words and formed a response. Clearly, he was a man who craved power, and thought possessing the faerie princess would satisfy that need to control something. Bazine was the youngest, she would of course be the expected option, but perhaps she could win back some of his goodwill if she offered him a choice. Even the illusion of control was important to a man like Armitage Hux.

“Please, take your seat, General,” she gestured, waiting as he sat back down, fidgeting with barely-contained animosity. “Both girls have their charms, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I assume you have a preference?”

She knew she had him back when his watery blue eyes darted up to meet her gaze in surprise. He swallowed, adjusting his position in the very uncomfortable chair Kreia kept in her office.

“I can choose either of them?” He repeated. Kreia laughed, following his thoughts effortlessly. Hux was so predictable, sometimes she wondered if he’d ever had an original thought pass through the clockwork of his brain.

“Well, obviously you will not be marrying the Crown Princess. But there is much room for negotiation in the lines of succession, and of course… Situations can always be arranged to cause the heir to be unfit for the throne.” She eyed him knowingly. Hux frowned, his watery eyes moving around the room as if he suspected he was being setup. Kreia rolled her eyes.

“You would… compromise your own daughter?” He managed to question, finally.

“You prefer Fazma, then?” Of course he did. Bazine was prettier, but she was as cold and calculating as Snoke, though perhaps not as bright as Kreia would have wished, and she would certainly murder Armitage in his sleep or poison his food if he displeased her. Fazma, while less conventionally attractive and somewhat unorthodox in her hobbies of hunting and fencing, had a more loyal and yielding nature.

“Well, I mean no insult to Princess Bazine, but -” Kreia smiled, holding up a hand for silence.

“It will be arranged.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They sent you away?” She frowned. “What did they expect to happen when you were born with wings?”
> 
> “They didn’t expect wings, to begin with.” He sighed, as if it were an old hurt. “My family would never tell me this, but I suspect from things I’ve heard around the court, my birth was very frightening to them all.”
> 
> “Why on earth would they be frightened ? You’re so beautiful! And you can fly…” She reached a hand up, boldly caressing the curve of his wing where it folded over her. Rey was still enthralled by them, and it seemed unreal that she be allowed to touch them, that something so incredibly magical was hers to cherish and caress. Kylo closed his eyes under her gentle strokes, his voice low as he answered.
> 
> “The seraph in my family was my grandfather, Anakin Skywalker..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more smutty chapter before we get into the drama llamas of Leia's court...

Waking in the middle hour with Kylo's warmth spread over her, his heavy arm holding her close while one wing expanded over her like a blanket, Rey found for the first time in her life she resented the natural magic that kept her from just going back to sleep. Their day had begun early, Kylo waking her just before dawn as he felt the presence of ill-intentioned enemies at the edge of his perception, explaining that a seraphim could sense harmful intentions in the air like a change of temperature. Then they had passed over the strange barrier of dust and light that separated the Western Wastelands from Coruscant’s sparsely-populated Low Country, a feat that had terrified and fascinated her in equal parts.

Even though Kylo assured her the Shifting Sands would not harm her in his arms, it was still frightening to see it come over them so rapidly, but she had resisted the urge to bury her head in his shoulder, blinking furiously against the shifting, glittery particles that swirled around them, blocking the view of the scrubland on the opposite side.

Once they were past, she found to her disappointment the desert was hot and boring, and it was difficult for Kylo to traverse the treacherous currents of hot and cool air warring above it. He had brought them down by the first water source he found, traveling further north to reach it in the opposite direction of the Kingdom of Ren.

Rey had peppered him with questions all day, about the sands and the nature of his seraphim magic, but she could tell he was exhausted when they made camp under the setting sun. He offered her a piece of faerie cake, something she had not tasted since she was a child, when her mother had still employed old Maz, the boggan kitchen mistress, and Kylo had watched her devour it with a look of rapture in his dark eyes. She refused his offer to give her the rest of his, although she was eyeing it greedily, he was the one flying all day and Rey knew he needed his strength. Faerie cake or bread was made with spells of preservation and infused with strengthening magic, a single piece could substitute a whole meal. She didn’t need it, it was just a welcome treat.

He had surprised her by asking, somewhat shyly, with her hand laced loosely in his, if she would lay out her cloak for him again, and the vulnerability in his regal features made her heart ache. Somehow, someone had made this beautiful, intense young man feel unwanted, and Rey promised herself she would do everything in her power to make him feel loved and appreciated. She knew all too well how loneliness could eat at the heart, and had no wish to suffer that melancholy herself anymore, either.

So she had undressed, and spread out her cloak on the hard ground, and they had made love to each other in a gentle affirmation of affection. He only needed to fly to make her his mate, or if they were trying to conceive, which Rey was a little relieved to hear, and so it had been rather quicker than the previous night, if no less satisfying.

He had fallen asleep soon after, wrapping her in his warm embrace and spreading his wing out to cover her nakedness. And once he was asleep, she found there was no moving this massive creature she was mated to. His arms and leg entangled hers like lead weights, and his wing was unexpectedly heavy on top of her, leaving her no choice really but to close her eyes, and she dozed fitfully, almost too exhausted to really sleep.

Now that the sacred hour was upon them, however, she wanted nothing more than to burrow back into his warmth. She listened as his breathing quickened, just a few seconds after her, sighing as his velvet feathers shifted over her bare skin. Instead of getting up, he turned onto his side and hugged her against him with both arms, pressing warm kisses against her neck. She was surrounded by his crisp, airy scent of pine forest and winter winds, and she sighed contentedly, lifting one hand to slide her fingers through his hair in slow strokes. He caught her hand brought her wrist to his lips, kissing and nibbling at her skin until she opened her eyes.

“There you are,” he said with a smile as she opened under his warm gaze. “How are you feeling?”

“I am a little… sore,” she admitted slowly, shifting her legs to snuggle closer. “But no more than a long day of riding or tinkering with the palace fountains.”

He raised his eyebrows and she gave a wry smile. “The castle has been in my mother's family for generations, some of the statues and architecture are works of art, but my father refuses to hire enough caretakers to see to it all.” She slid idle fingers through his thick mane, tucking a stray piece gently behind his ear. “I couldn't bear to see them left to fall apart.”

“Such an un-ladylike hobby.” He smiled, kissing the delicate pointed tip of her ear, and Rey shuddered at the sensation. “My mother would approve.”

“Would she? Truly?” When he nodded, she pressed for more. “Tell me more about your parents. Do you have friends at court? Is there anyone I should take care around?”

“My best friend is another seraph - Jacen Syndulla. His mother is a river selkie so our parents were close, too. His father died in the war, but he was a great sorcerer, he gave his life in a Final Strike to protect his lover and friends after they were trapped by Fomorians. Lady Hera has been a supporter of my mother’s from the very beginning. I believe you'll like him, but he has a bit of a dark sense of humor.” She raised her eyebrows and he shrugged. “Lord Kannan died before he could wed Jacen’s mother, and not everyone at court was kind about it.”

“I see.” Rey turned in his arms to watch his eyes as he spoke.

“Uncle Luke supervised us both as we started learning to fly and Jacen was a holy terror. He’s a few years older than me, so when I started up, my mother had had enough. She sent us both back to Ahch-To with Luke. ”

“They sent you away?” She frowned. “What did they expect to happen when you were born with wings?”

“They didn’t expect wings, to begin with.” He sighed, as if it were an old hurt. “My family would never tell me this, but I suspect from things I’ve heard around the court, my birth was very frightening to them all.”

“Why on earth would they be _frightened_? You’re so beautiful! And you can fly…” She reached a hand up, boldly caressing the curve of his wing where it folded over her. Rey was still enthralled by them, and it seemed unreal that she be allowed to touch them, that something so incredibly magical was hers to cherish and caress. Kylo closed his eyes under her gentle strokes, his voice low as he answered.

“The seraph in my family was my grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. And Luke, of course, but I think combined with the black wings, it was just a shock…” he shook his head. “The rumors flew. People thought it was a sign of dark times ahead. I’m sure you can imagine.”

She could. She could absolutely imagine how certain people in her father’s court would react to any occurance they believed ominous. But she had hoped his home would be different, at least he seemed to be close to his parents, and his best friend.

“I’ve gotten used to it now. It doesn’t really bother me like it used to. But I’m afraid I picked up some of Jacen’s dark humor while we were in exile,” he smiled slightly, his hand cupped over the back of her head so he could run his thumb over the tip of her ear.

“Dark humor?” She repeated softly. Kylo smiled, watching her eyes close as he played with the point of her ear.

“You'll see. It can come off as a bit much, but I assure you, he's my oldest and truest friend. Lady Jykatha joins our exploits from time to time, as well... I hope she doesn't frighten you, she's quite forward. Ahsoka refuses to name her father, and has been very unapologetic about it since the day she was born.” He took her hand and threaded their fingers together. “My home is very different in many ways... we aren't so formal, and I'm afraid there are a lot of things you may find startling. But my friends are kind, and loyal, and I will be by your side as often as you will allow."

“What else?” She laid her hand over his, wrapping it between her soft palms to stop his caress of her ear. He glanced down in surprise.

“Does that bother you?”

“No, it’s just sensitive, and I want to listen with my full attention.” She peered into his eyes with a soft smile. “You can resume if you want whenever you’re finished telling me about your home.”

“Ahhh…” He grinned, moving his hand to rest over her shoulder, rubbing his thumb in light circles over her skin. “Well, the Captain of the Guard is a woman, Lady Sabine. She's a nyx and her husband, Ezra, is another seraph. Their daughter, Lady Onera, is courting Jykatha.” He paused, and Rey looked up, her face full of rapt attention.

“Wait, I think I've misunderstood something. Your friend is being courted by another lady? _Courted_? In the traditional sense?" she said curiously.

He nodded, and Rey blinked thoughtfully. She had heard stories, St Bastila herself was said to have a lady lover. And of course, she had met the Marquise's Lady Elle, an ifreet 'hijira,' which her mother had explained meant she was a woman's soul born into a masculine body. But, of course, her father was unkind about it and Lady Elle rarely accompanied him to court.

“That’s - Your kingdom really is different," she said at last. "I can't imagine my step-mother accepting such a thing. And my father was always cruel to Uncle Lando's lady. They are courting openly?”

“Oh, yes. They are… quite open. My mother has given her blessing very publicly, although there are those who oppose such a break from tradition. But Jykatha’s mother, Lady Ahsoka, is the most powerful sorceress in our land.” He smirked. “And they’re both lamia, so no one would dare speak against it within their hearing anyway.”

“Oh.” Rey was having a hard time imagining all of these different types of fae all in one court. It seemed so far-fetched, like the paintings and murals in her mother’s old rooms. "But… I am sorry if I sound ignorant, my lord, I don't mean to offend your friend, but how will they… There are no offspring possible from such a union. Isn't your Captain of the Guard concerned with her family lineage? Or Lady Ahsoka?”

“Ah, well.” He gave her a mischievous little smile. “Jykatha has secured a promise from Jacen and myself to… spend an evening or two with Onera, should everything work out. Ahsoka does not seem to care for aught but her daughter's happiness, and I think Lady Sabine just wants grandchildren who can fly, so she can recruit them like she has Onera and her sisters. Of course if you are opposed, I will withdraw - but, this is the far future we are speaking of-”

“I’m not…” Rey flushed suddenly, looking down at where his hand rested on her shoulder. She placed her own hand over it. “I should like to have our own child before you offer yourself to another. Forgive me. I don’t rightly know how to phrase it. I feel very possessive of you, even in so short a time, but I… I think I could accept it, if I had a child of my own to tie you to me. My father has taken a number of mistresses and I have always found it disgusting, but only because he treats them so poorly and the children…” She shook her head, thinking of her old friend Finn, and leveled a fierce stare into his eyes. “Swear you will act only with my permission, and that the offspring will be cared for.”

He peered down at her, his eyes pools of darkness with the moon bright over the inky slope of his wing. “Rey… Sweetheart…” He freed his hand to cup her face, leaning in close and stroking his thumb across her cheekbone. “We don’t have to decide this now, I’m sure it will be years before Jyka is ready to raise a child..”

“Swear it now anyway, my lord, I beg you.” She grasped his hand tightly. “If only to put my mind at ease, for I’m afraid I will obsess over it…”

“Very well. I don’t expect it to come up otherwise, but should I wish to visit anyone else’s bed, I will do so only with your permission, and I will ensure any offspring of mine are provided for... I cannot _imagine_ wanting anyone else, but you have my word.” He regarded her solemn expression. “Does that satisfy you, my lady?”

“Yes. Thank you,” she brought the hand she gripped to her lips and kissed it. “Thank you… for understanding.”

“Rey…”

Suddenly he was kissing her, and she leaned into it, her hands sliding eagerly through his hair and caressing his wing with the gentlest touch. She found the place at the base of it, where his feathers were softest and merged into the skin of his shoulder, and he moaned and closed his eyes as she stroked it.

“You like this?” She murmured wonderingly, gently rubbing the downy feathers with the lightest of touches. “It’s so soft…”

“Mmmm,” he purred, arching into it. “Scratch…?”

She did, hesitantly at first, but more firmly as she responded to his sounds of pleasure, her fingers finding the smooth skin beneath the downy feathers, laughing as he burrowed his face into her neck and groaned. 

“Oh, well.” Rey slipped her other hand to the back of his head and whispered in his ear. “I'll have to remember this if I’m ever in need of securing your good graces, my lord.”

“If you're interested, I can think of other ways for you to secure my graces.” His lips found the tip of her ear, and when he gently sucked it into his mouth, she clutched him against her and whimpered in pleasure. He moved himself on top of her, and Rey parted her legs for him willingly, her earlier soreness forgotten. “Mmm,” he looked down over her flushed body with a sly smile. “I think I’ve discovered your weakness as well.”

His hand slid down over her and he followed its path with his mouth, trailing hot, wet kisses down her neck and between her breasts. He found her entrance easily, and he sucked her nipple into his mouth as he penetrated her with his long fingers. She could feel that her body was swollen then, even though it felt lovely, there was a roughness inside and she wasn’t entirely sure his manhood would be as pleasant as his fingers.

“Kylo,” she whispered his name insistently. “I think perhaps…” His fingers moved rapidly, plunging in and out while he sucked and teased her breast with his tongue, and she arched her back as pleasure burst over her, leaving her mind blank as she gasped for breath.

She stopped him as he moved to position himself, taking his length in her hand and shaking her head slightly. “I can’t anymore, my lord, I… it’s sore. Inside.” She blushed, opening her eyes to apologize. “I’m sorry, I should have said-”

“No, Rey. Don’t ever feel the need to apologize for telling me to stop. Anytime, regardless of my own needs, I will stop at your word, I swear it.” He tilted his head, looking down at where her hand was wrapped around him. “I won’t press you, please… _please_ tell me if you don’t want to… But, if I may ask..?"

She nodded, and he cupped her face in his hand, his thumb tracing her bottom lip. "If you're not too tired, you did say you wouldn’t mind, and... we have time. Would you… use your mouth instead?”

He raised his eyebrows hopefully, and she laughed.

“You're very persistent, aren't you?”

“Single-minded, my mother always says.”

“Let's not talk about your mother right at this moment,” she insisted, climbing to her knees a little awkwardly with him still in her hand. She stared at him, taking in his size again like she were trying to solve a puzzle. “I think I can… Fit the top of it… Is that alright?”

“Rey, whatever you want to do is alright.” She glanced up, seeing his eyes close with pleasure as she stroked her hand over him.

A sudden, very wicked thought occurred to her.

“What if I do want to go back to sleep?” She whispered, doing her best to sound sincere. His eyes snapped open, and she couldn’t contain a snicker at the wide, helpless expression that crossed his face. She was still smiling slightly as she leaned down to slide her mouth around him, swirling her tongue to taste the soft skin at the top of his member.

“I think you are going to get along very well with my friends, you terrible woman!”

He moaned in pleasure as her mouth descended over him, his hand resting very gently on the back of her head so he could thumb at her ear again. Rey wondered if he was as fascinated by the sharply pointed tips as she was by his soft feathers. She closed her eyes, flicking the end back and forth like she was searching for a faraway sound, her lips curving around him at his soft gasp.

“I take it back. You aren’t just terrible, my lady, you are evil. I had no idea you were hiding such a devious mind behind that innocent face.” He made a deep noise of pleasure, almost like a growl, as she wrapped both of her hands around his length.

“Still positive you want me for your wife?” She said, pulling away to peer up at him while her slender hands gently worked up and down. He grinned.

“Absolutely.” She slowly pulled him back into her mouth, and he sighed his pleasure, murmuring more words of assurance and encouragement, stroking her cheek. “Oh, gods, Rey… that feels wonderful…”

She took him in as much as she could, sliding her tongue along the underside while she worked her hands faster, revelling in the lovely sighs and low, plaintive noises he was making. Kylo’s hands fisted gently in her hair, his arms trembling, and abruptly he pulled her head away, pushing her to her back and spilling his seed onto her stomach. She watched curiously, dropping a hand to examine the texture while he leaned over her, gasping in lungfuls of air.

“I’m sorry, I thought you wouldn’t like it in your mouth and I… I didn’t mean to be rough with you, Rey… You’re just so small and delicate -” His gaze traveled over her prone form worriedly, frowning when he reached her amused expression.

“I am not so breakable as you think,” she reassured with a smile. “And you were quite right, I don’t care for the taste… although I like watching you… I liked all of it, actually. Rather more than I expected.”

“You liked that? Truly?” She blushed, turning her head from his heated stare.

“I did. Yes.” She shyly met his eyes again. “I hope you don’t think I’m… too forward, or unladylike, for saying so.”

Kylo laughed, lying on side next to her to press kisses against her neck and cheek. “Rey, I think perhaps you don’t understand.” He put his lips to her ear, whispering. “I _like_ it when you’re forward.”

“Oh!” She faced him with wide wide eyes. “Oh, I see. I shall keep that in mind. Now if you’re quite finished defiling my body, I would like to clean up the mess you’ve made of me, and then I would like to rest. Is that acceptable to you, husband?”

“No,” he said, smirking when she shot him a dark look. He got up and slipped his arms beneath her, carrying her to the little oasis they had camped beside. “Since I am the one responsible for it, I think it’s only fair that I clean you up myself.”

“Hmmm. How very altruistic of you. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you can’t seem to keep your hands off of me.”

“Oh, I beg your pardon. I was under the assumption that you enjoyed my hands on you.”

Rey squealed as he dropped her, albeit gently, into the deepest part of the little oasis, where the water reached his thighs. “Kylo!”

When he came back, with soap and her satchel, she allowed him to wash her in apology, relaxing under his firm, warm hands. There was something building in her gut, some swirl of emotion she couldn’t quite put a name to, but it both frightened and relieved her to know that she still capable of _feeling_ anything so strongly. And Kylo, with his wit and humor and beauty, showering her in devotion like… like the princess she was… filled her heart with a tenderness she had never expected to feel towards a man who had claimed her as his _wife_.

Suddenly Rey could see a future ahead of her that was not full of melancholy and regret, and she was not quite sure how to cope with such an unexpected change.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had no name, and no face, but he remembered. He remembered when bright colors warmed the solid stone of the castle, the smell of faerie cake baking early in the morning and the fresh straw spread in the stable where he used to sleep. And perhaps most clearly, he remembered voices, the ringing laughter of the young princess and her maids as they played in the courtyard and splashed each other at the fountains.
> 
> It was at one of those fountains that he had first spoken to the princess, after Fazma had shown him how to drain the life of the stable boy who shared his loft, and take his visage for his own, consuming the heart’s blood in a terrible and gorey ritual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now for something completely different... For everyone worried about Ben's fidelity, Jykatha is not thrilled either ;)
> 
> For Reference:
> 
> Nyx/nyxies - black-skinned faeries of the night, they have bright green or purple eyes, blue, silver or violet lips and wings like a darkly-colored butterfly. Possess the power to walk through shadows and place others into an enchanted sleep. As they are creatures of the night, they are compelled to sleep from dawn until after midday.
> 
> Ifreet - with bodies made entirely of ever-smoldering coal, the fire-faeries are capricious but excellent story-tellers, with mastery of flames and a natural talent for metalworking. They are known for an overabundance of luck, and often have odd superstitions concerning their own personal fortune, such as keeping talismans (and dice lol) and throwing salt over their shoulder, never spending the last coin in their pocket, etc.
> 
> Lamia - half-humanoid, half reptile, varying in body make up, some have horns and claws, others tails, spikes, forked tongues, antlers and serpentine lower halves. A select few have wings like bats or poisonous fangs. Known for their terrifying basilisk gaze which can petrify the unprepared, they prefer higher temperatures as any amount of chill in the air can cause them to be sedated and sleepy.
> 
> Fomorians - dark fae who can take the form of any person after drinking their heart's blood. Their powers are based in death and decay. The blood of the sidhe is poisonous to them, and many of them believe they are meant to be the true rulers of the Realms. Born as featureless gray shadows, they are weak-willed and mindless until given a name by another faerie.

“Jyka! Jyka, wake up!”

If it had been anyone besides Onera, Jykatha would have rolled over and gone back to sleep, but the excited voice combined with the persistent, firm tapping on her bedroom door eventually roused her. She blinked back sleep, dragging herself out from under the warm bedding grudgingly, going to the door still in her shift and warm fleece dressing gown.

“Where's Bariss?” She grumbled, holding the door open just a crack. They might be courting publicly now, but Jykatha had no intention of letting her love see her before she was even dressed for the day. “Did you sneak past her again?”

“It’s not my fault your maid servant is a heavy sleeper!” Onera hissed in a voice that she probably thought was a whisper. Jykatha rolled her eyes.

“You shadow-stepped, didn't you? Don’t think of lying, I am well aware of how you abuse your powers.”

“It’s _not_ abuse! I move through the darkness like a selkie through the water. Simply moving in my own element is not an abuse of power. Now, if I were to step through the shadow into your bedroom, or put your lady into an enchanted sleep -” Jykatha silenced her with a slim, clawed finger against her dark blue lips.

“Please, cease before you give me even more reason to suspect you,” she said in the sternest voice she could manage. “Tell me, what is so important you could not wait until this afternoon to see me.”

“Ben is coming back, and he has the princess,” Onera said quickly. “One of my mother's scouts spied them along the eastern scrublands around Ryloth. She said they'll probably be here right around mid-morning, so you'll get to meet her before I do.”

Jykatha blinked. Of course, Onera would be going to her own bed soon, as everyone else prepared to rise for the day. Her mother and Bariss had both noticed that she had begun to keep a later schedule herself, retiring after the sacred hour and rising just before midday, but sometimes she forgot that while she had the _choice_ of rising late, Onera and her kind were _compelled_ to sleep through the hours of the rising sun.

“You woke me up because you're a curious, gossipy little minx and you're dying of disappointment that everyone else will get to meet the new princess while you're curled up in your cave, dead to all the world. And you know your father won’t say anything before your mother gets to meet the new princess herself.” She grinned. “So the only acceptable remedy for your injured feelings is that I be there to greet her, and agree come to you as soon as you wake and spill all of my observations.”

Onera batted her sparkling lashes over deep, emerald eyes and gave her most seductive smile, her full, dark lips curving gently, almost inspiring Jykatha to kiss them. “Please say you will. It’s nearly dawn now,” she begged. “It’s not fair that everyone else gets to meet her first, and Father won’t tell me anything, you know how he is!”

“Oh, no, Lady Onera!” Bariss’ scandalized voice called from the sitting room she shared with her mother. “You cannot be in here so early! It’s indecent. I shall have to tell Lady Ahsoka if it happens again!”

“But only if it happens again, right?” Onera winked, slipping back from the door, where the room behind her was filled with shadows cast by the banked fire and light from Bariss’ small room. “Promise me, my lady love!”

“Alright, alright!”

The nyx grinned, her black skin melding into the dark, and with a quick kiss blown in Jykatha’s direction, she disappeared into the shadows. Bariss came out into the sitting room, candle in hand as she peered into the darkness.

“She's gone, Bariss,” Jykatha assured her. “I promise, nothing improper occured, Onera was simply warning me that the prince will be back this morning.”

“Is that so?” Her maid servant looked up from where she stood by the hearth. “Will you rise early, then, my lady?”

Jykatha stretched her arms and yawned, her body protesting the early hour. She rolled her neck and twisted her serpentine tail, twitching the spade-shaped end irritably. “I suppose there's no point in trying to go back to bed now. Will you fetch me a warm bath, please, Bariss? It's so hard to rouse myself when the air is still chilled.”

“Of course, my lady. I'll check on Lady Ahsoka first, if you don’t mind. I’m sure she will be eager to meet the princess as well.”

“No, go ahead and tell my lady mother if she wishes to rise, I would be pleased to break our fast together,” she said with the last word drawn out in a yawn.

Jykatha watched from her favourite chair as the servant bustled about the room, lighting the fires in the center hearth and stoking the coals in the half-dozen little sand pits around the corners of the room. Like her mother, Jykatha was a lamia, with large curved horns above her ears and a mix of dannan and reptilian body parts. Her dusky bronze skin ended in scaled claws, the same golden color as her long, pointed tail. Bariss had served Lady Ahsoka long enough to know that the lamia required heat, especially upon rising, and she went about warming their chambers before busying herself with any other task. By the time she woke Ahsoka and came to prepare a bath, the entire suite was warm as the noon-day desert, and Jykatha was feeling much more enthusiastic about meeting her friend's new bride.

“So, any guesses on what our dear Ben’s little sidhe is going to be like?” Lady Ahsoka asked by way of greeting as she joined her daughter at the small breakfast tray Bariss had ordered. “I assume that's why you've decided to grace us with your presence this early. I can think of no other reason that could possibly drag my daughter out of bed at such a normal hour.”

“Dawn is hardly a reasonable hour to awake, mother. Do not pretend your sorceress’s hours are commonplace throughout the kingdom. Even Queen Leia takes her breakfast well after sunrise.” She poured equal parts tea and sugar into a cup and drained it in a few sips before pouring another. Ahsoka did the same herself, sharing a smile with her sharp-tongued daughter.

“At least I taught you the proper way to take your tea if you must force yourself into being alert. Too bad it's the only lesson you were ever interested in,” she mused. “I wonder if Princess Reyna will have a talent for sorcery… Leia says she wishes to face the ascension trials, although the Fates know, Snoke and Kreia have done their best to stamp out all the mystic arts in Coruscant. But sidhe are always drawn to magic. The ancient priests believed it completes their souls.”

“I can't imagine how difficult it's been for her,” Jykatha frowned as they both paused sorrowfully. “Onera says it's mostly dannan in the court and capital now. If only Lady Mara had smuggled her out when they had the chance."

“There are half a dozen ‘if only’ events that might have happened with regards to Coruscant,” Ahsoka said wistfully. “Old Lando was like to drive himself mad with regret when they were first exiled.”

“Oh, Mother… I didn't mean to imply that what happened was in any way the fault of the Marquise or his daughter. Or Master Luke. I didn't even think of how awful it must have been for their family… I just worry that the princess will have been corrupted somehow, or abused in such a way as to make her skittish and unfit to rule,” she said softly. “Is Lady Mara still coming, do you know?”

“Hmm… I believe the king and queen decided to wait until the princess arrives, to be sure she is ready for such a reunion. I know that's why Han has postponed his leave from Cloud City.”

“I hope she is open to receiving them,” Jykatha said, genuinely concerned for both her friend, Lady Mara, and the princess. “And to seeing Master Luke again.”

“I hope so as well. And I hope Luke and Mara can find it in themselves to exist in the same room for more than ten seconds.” Ahsoka rubbed her own jewel, a pure white moonstone set into the palm of her hand, her eyes unfocused with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Though Jykatha was only in her late twenties, her lady mother was nearly a century of age, and had witnessed two wars, the rise and fall of the Dark Lords and the tumultuous histories of many Rebellion heroes. Sometimes, she found her mother’s wisdom suffocating, preferring to make her own mistakes and forge her own path, but occasionally, Lady Ahsoka’s encyclopedic memory of the histories as well as the magic arts impressed her. The moonstone was the highest jewel a sorcerer could receive, and as far as the histories told, Ahsoka Tano was the only non-sidhe to ever ascend to that level.

“Master Luke blames himself,” she intuited. Ahsoka looked up, giving her daughter a faint smile of affection.

“He does. Luke Skywalker will be a saint one day, I’m sure. I've never met someone so determined to martyr himself.” She paused, looking thoughtful again. “Except perhaps Anakin…”

“Must be a seraphim thing. St. Obi-wan, Master Kannan, Luke Skywalker - the prince,” she shrugged and her mother frowned.

“What sacrifice has Ben Solo made to be included in that list?”

“Going alone into enemy territory to rescue a woman he doesn't even know but agreed to marry anyway? Snoke could have easily picked him off if he suspected,” she pointed out. “And even if Mara and Luke say she was kind and intelligent… that was four years ago.”

“Hmmm,” Ahsoka murmured, sipping her tea thoughtfully. “We’ll see. Princess Reyna is descended from St. Bastila herself, you know. Perhaps she will have a martyr’s spirit. And you forgot Lord Ezra in your list of seraphim.”

“Well… He did marry Sabine, and take her family name, _and_ have three daughters.” Ahsoka chuckled, and Jyka grinned. “And, of course, Lady Kana went off to study with Luke, so now he’s a feathered sorcerer in a house full of sword-carrying dark butterflies.”

“Don’t laugh, daughter-mine, that could be you one day.”

Her eyes widened at her mother’s pointed stare, and she sipped her tea to hide the blush on her cheeks.

“Did you forget I was there when Lady Onera pled your case before the queen?” Ahsoka smiled like a cat closing in on its prey, and Jyka swallowed. “Perhaps you should get to know Lord Ezra better, you two have more in common than you might think.”

“ _Mother!”_ She managed to squeak.

“ _Jykatha_ !” She replied with amusement sparkling in her violet eyes. “Saints alive, child. There’s no need to be so scandalized. I thought it was a clever solution, personally. _Very_ clever, considering the two seraphs involved. What will you do now that Ben has a bride? I can't imagine the princess will be thrilled at the idea of Onera's winged hellions delegitimizing her own offspring."

“Can we please talk about… _anything_ else?” Jyka begged, busying herself with buttering a muffin she did not really intend to eat. Really, she was not thrilled with the idea of her future  _wife_ sleeping with either of her friends, regardless of her assurances. She'd wanted to adopt or... Something... But Onera wanted wings. And it had helped convince Leia and Sabine to support them.

“Princess Reyna is a sidhe?” Bariss asked in an innocent voice, joining them at the table. She shot her mother’s lady a look of pure gratitude, and she offered a very small smile in return, her attention focused on Ahsoka. “Whatever will she do for a wardrobe if the prince is carrying her back in such a way?”

“She has a servant being sent with her possessions to Ren over land,” Ahsoka obliged, although her tone made it clear she knew she was being distracted. “Then, of course, Queen Amilyn will bring them when she arrives next month over the inland sea. But you’re right, I’m not sure what arrangements Leia has planned for the interim. I suppose I should inquire.”

“Someone should, I think, my lady,” Bariss replied mildly. “I believe they’ve assigned her the tower suite above us. I could perhaps make inquiries with the other maids. I believe Lady Jyka has some gowns she does not care for that could be retailored.”

“Surely our clothes would be too warm for her taste.”

“Maybe not.” Jykatha did not know what the weather in Coruscant was like, but Reyna’s mother, Lady Kira, descended in part from the tiny desert kingdom of Jakku, right next to Shili where the lamia were from. Ahsoka glanced her way in surprise. Was it possible she knew something her mother didn’t? “Queen Kira and Lord Lando’s father was an ifreet, from Jakku. Reyna will have some desert blood in her veins.”

Bariss chuckled, immediately pressing her fingers to her lips under Ahsoka’s stern gaze. “Apologies, my ladies. I was just imagining how the court would react if the princess were to give birth to an ifreet.”

“Probably more favorably than if she had a black-winged seraph,” Jykatha murmured dryly. Her mother and Bariss both gave her sharp looks, but she only raised a brow in response, undaunted. She had heard enough from Onera and Jacen about how the court whispered of the reincarnation of Anakin Skywalker, and how suspicious they were now of Ben Solo’s intended bride. “Don’t glare at me. You know how these people are. Half of them still hope the queen will have another child, while the other half are afraid the new princess is a Fomori in disguise.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Ahsoka said dismissively. “Seraphim can sense the presence of a Fomori from miles away. How could -”

“They think he has already been corrupted, like the old king,” Bariss interjected. “Forgive me, mistress, but one hears much in the way of gossip as a servant. Your lady daughter is quite right, unfortunately. There are those who favor Master Luke for the regnancy, as well.”

“Hmm. Well, they cannot doubt the word of Ezra and Luke and Jacen combined. Unless they think Ezra Wren or Jacen Syndulla would somehow be in league with Fomorians as well.” The elder lamia tapped her claws against the table thoughtfully as Bariss shrugged and Jyka narrowed her eyes into her teacup. “Perhaps you should make a few inquiries among Leia’s maids, Bariss. If she is to make the right impression, Lady Reyna must appear as much of a true sidhe princess as possible.”

“Yes, my lady. I will ask Lady Hera’s servants as well.”

Ahsoka waited until Bariss gathered the remains of their breakfast and excused herself to go about her daily chores, reclining back in her chair with her teacup still in hand.

“I’m afraid I cannot be there to meet the prince and princess when they return like I had planned,” she said finally, watching Jykatha’s face. “I need you to be in their corner, Jyka. Make sure the princess has everything she needs, win her friendship if you can, and keep the vultures at bay.”

“You needn’t ask me like it is some kind of onerous chore when you know I had planned exactly that. Unless she’s an absolute prat, obviously. Then we’ll just have to kill her, I guess.”

“Jykatha!” Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “I don’t know where you children learned such a dismal sense of humor.”

“Oh? You have _no idea_ where your own daughter might have picked up the fine art of sarcasm? Or the prince? Or Lord Jacen?” She smirked at Ahsoka’s long-suffering eyes. “You should listen to yourselves the next time you sit down for a Council meeting with the king and queen. I daresay you might discover something surprising.”

“Yes, I daresay,” Ahsoka responded dryly, giving her daughter the briefest wink.

 

He had no name, and no face, but he remembered. He remembered when bright colors had warmed the solid stone of the castle, the smell of faerie cake baking early in the morning and the fresh straw spread in the stable where he used to sleep. And perhaps most clearly, he remembered voices, the ringing laughter of the young princess and her maids as they played in the courtyard and splashed each other at the fountains.

It was at one of those fountains that he had first spoken to the princess, after Fazma had shown him how to drain the life of the stable boy who shared his loft, and take his visage for his own, consuming the heart’s blood in a terrible and gorey ritual. She had not shown him that it could be done without murder until much later.

He’d hated that, the death and the blood, the grubby, sticky feeling of the necrotic magic swirling around him and through him. Thank the gods it disintegrated the remains, he would surely have lost his supper if he had to find a way to dispose of the bloodless corpse as well.

But taking a face in such a way had allowed him to speak to the princess, and soon he was even invited to join their games around the fountain, eagerly reporting every detail to Fazma as he had been ordered. He had no idea why she would want to know how the princess treated her maids, or what idle chatter they made, or how good they were at games of tag and hide-and-seek. But he reported to her faithfully, his relationship changing over the years, from playmate to trusted servant as the princess and her ladies aged.

“What do you think of Lord Luke?" Rose had asked him one day, seemingly out of the blue. What did he know about lords and ladies? He was nothing, a nameless servant of the darkness, not even a solid-formed dannan like she was. He had only seen the lord in question a few times, but he of course remembered those huge blue wings, beginning at the top with a color blue as the sky and ending in an almost indigo hue at the pointed tips. He had been instructed to stay well away from the coldly beautiful seraph.

The other stable hands had collected the feathers eagerly, fighting over them with vicious shouts and even fists. He had waited until the biggest boy had fallen asleep, then used the barest tendrils of his magic to steal a few for himself.

He told her about this, leaving out the part about his magic, of course, because Fazma was very strict about keeping his nature to himself. He wasn’t even allowed to have a name, although of course they called him after the boy whose life he had assumed. He offered her one of the darker feathers, the deep indigo and blue of a moonless night, long and soft as a cloud.

“Oh, Finn!" The maid had hugged him in gratitude, and as soon as she touched him, he knew he was in danger. Or, rather, Rose was in danger. Fazma would see it immediately, would know his gift for the token of affection it was, and he would be ordered to do something horrible. But in order to protect her, he had to do something else horrible.

He killed again, and left his stolen face on the body before dumping it in the castle moat. Unburdened, he was free to slink away in the night, slipping through the undercity to hide for a few days before he took up a place in the palace guard with the rest of his faceless brothers and sisters. Under the elaborate armor, it was impossible to tell the people wearing it were faceless monsters, children of death and dark magic. Without a name, they were weak, easily-cowed and obedient to fully-formed,  _named_ Fomori overlords.

Those few days of hiding out had cost him, however. News of the princess’s attack traveled like wildfire through the palace, and when he discovered the details of it from one of General Hux's briefings, he was both appalled and filled with rage. Silently, he watched as a sobbing Rose identified the body of the stable boy called Finn, and again, days later, when she stood under guard and was forced to witness her sister’s execution. He could not protect her then, surrounded by all of his siblings and his ever watchful sisters.

Now, however. Now, the princess was gone, and General Hux had a captive ifreet from a foreign court. The fire faeries were capricious normally, and gaining one’s trust was a difficult feat, but he knew they were bound to repay their debts. If he set it free, it would be bound by its own magic to help him, or suffer terrible luck until the favor was repaid.

“Lady Kreia wishes to question the prisoner," he informed the guard at the cell.

Unlike him, or Fazma and Bazine, the castle guards were pure Fomori, nameless and obedient to nearly anyone of noble descent. Snoke and Kreia were half-sidhe, born from the time of the Dark Lords, and they had passed their noble blood to their daughters. Fazma had the death magics of the Fomorians, but Bazine had been less fortunate. She was noble and strong, lithe and graceful like the sidhe, but she had none of their magics or distinctive ears. He knew in his heart of hearts that she existed at the mercy of her parents, and if it served their purpose, despite her ability to pass as dannan, she was entirely expendable.

He had assumed this was why they had betrothed Fazma while naming Bazine - poor, nonmagical, helpless Bazine - the heir. As soon as her sister had a child with her husband, they would find a way to dispose of her, and unlike Reyna, no noble was interested in her hand. He had heard her, sobbing behind the doors of her rooms, and despite her vile personality, he felt some amount of compassion for her. So he had reached out, making what was, at best, an alliance of convenience, and he took the struggling prisoner to her quarters for secrecy.

“Quiet!" He barked as the man babbled some sarcastic comment on their less-than-stellar accommodations. Tired of the man’s struggling despite the cuffs of cold iron that bound him (which he was careful not to touch), he shoved him roughly into the princess’s sitting room.

“Do you want to get out of here, or not, my lord?” He hissed, removing his helmet now that they were alone. The man’s eyes were wide, and he knew what he saw. Shapeless gray skin in only a semblance of a face, eyes black as ink and only split skin where his mouth should be.

“I have nothing to give you," the young fae said stubbornly. "You may as well kill me and take my form, if that’s your intent. But you won’t make it past Queen Amilyn or Lord Ezra.”

“We will,” Bazine spoke up from a chair in the far corner of the room, draped in shadows, a glass of white wine from dinner still in her hand. She rose and stalked over to the restrained faerie, her dark green eyes narrow and her lips stained with the very darkest shade of plum. “With your help, Captain Dameron.”

“Why would I help you?" The man had the heated, dusky skin of an ifreet, veins of yellow fire flowing beneath it. He did not radiate heat as much as others of his kind, but the embers in his eyes burned bright, and sparks flared around his face as he rolled his neck, stretching.

“Perhaps we can help each other," Bazine purred, tracing a finely manicured nail over his ear and down his neck brazenly. Finn looked away, uncomfortable with her obvious attempt at seduction. Anger flashed across her features when the man laughed outright, dodging her risque touches.

“No offense, but you’re not much of princess, are you? _What_ are you, exactly?” His eyes burned a deep red as he nodded towards the guard in the corner, watching them. “I know what he is. If you’re Fomori, you can just devour me and take my face, can’t you?”

“Of course," Bazine murmured, trying again to manipulate him with her low voice. “But it would be a waste of such a lovely face -”

“Right. Look, I believe it's best I be honest here, Princess." He shook off her hand again, rolling his eyes. "You’re the wrong sex for that to work. Understand? I mean you no offense.”

“Lady Rose is leaving tomorrow with Princess Reyna’s things to join her mistress at the court of Ren,” he interjected quickly, before Bazine could ruin their opportunity even more. “We need to be with them. All three of us. And we need you to vouch for us, because -”

“Because you’re running away," he looked up at Bazine and smirked. “I get it. Lady Reyna gets her prince, Fazma is betrothed to General Hux - that leaves you with nothing, doesn’t it little princess? Being the Crown Princess means nothing when dear Mummy and Daddy are twisted, evil creatures who care nothing for anyone, even their own precious offspring. Am I right?”

Bazine slapped him, the smack of flesh loud in the quiet little room. But she looked over to Finn and sighed. “Tell him why you want to escape, little brother. Perhaps your silly romance will stir the embers of his heart.”

“They want me to kill Lady Rose and take her form,” he explained. "But I can’t… I won’t do it. I care for her. I played with them as a child - Lady Rose and her sister, Paige, and the Princess - and I have to protect her. I couldn’t save Rey, or Paige, but I can save Rose -”

“Alright," the other man turned his head, doing his best to meet his gaze though it was impossible to tell exactly where the formless black eyes were looking. “I’ll help. What’s your name, monster?”

“I do not have one. We do not have… names…”

“Well, what does Lady Rose call you? Does she even know about your little… crush?” The faerie was trying to be understanding, he could tell, but his obvious disgust hurt. He let his vision drift over, watching the cruel, calculating face of Lady Bazine.

“She used to know me as Finn. I worked in the stables." He lifted his helmet back to his head, seeking solace from their disgusted looks. “I cast that face away years ago."

"Finn, huh? It’s nice to meet you, Finn. Please call me Poe.”

He paused, the helmet falling back to his side. _Finn._ It resonated through him like it had not before. Something lost and lonely inside of him, something bright that had been chained down by his vile heritage, broke free and filled his chest. 

 _Finn. Yes._ It had always been there, hadn't it? He did have a name. He was just waiting for someone to acknowledge it while he was in his true form. 

"You okay there, sir?" The ifreet's voice interrupted his musing. "Finn?" 

He glanced to the man in surprise, but not before he noticed the absolutely murderous look in Princess Bazine’s heartless eyes. There was something there she did not like, the dynamic had changed. The ifreet had agreed to help Finn, not her. Now she had no choice but to come along for the ride, or remain and suffer whatever fate her parents had planned for her.

“Alright. Poe." He nodded formally, and the man returned it, acknowledging him. Acknowledging him as an _equal_ , no less. He began removing his substantial armor, summoning the shadows to cover him so they didn’t have to see his featureless gray flesh again. When he was done, he slunk over to lurk in the doorway of Bazine’s closet. “You’re going to want to put that on."

"What?”

“We are trading positions. You will wear my armor tomorrow and join the escort accompanying Lady Rose. They assume I will already be in her place. We will make our own escape while the castle is distracted and meet you before you reach the Low Country,” he explained. Poe Dameron eyed the discarded pile of armor, then glanced up at Bazine’s curious eyes and sighed.

“Right. Of course. I’ll just… Do you mind, Your Highness?”

“Yes, I mind. These are my quarters.” She chuckled, reclaiming her glass of wine. “Go on, Captain. Get changed before someone finds out you’ve gone missing.”

He grimaced under her scathing gaze, but changed quickly, handing over his own clothing. Before the captain lifted up his helmet, Finn held up a hand.

“My apologies, but I do have to bite you now. Not for long, I just need to taste your blood so I can assume your face for a short time.” The man blinked under his eyeless stare, then shrugged.

“Well, my day can’t get any worse, so go ahead, I suppose,” he said after a minute.

“Don’t worry, Captain," the princess grinned over her wine glass. “The Fomorian’s bite is most pleasant.”

“Huh," he said. And then: “Oh, _fuck!_ " 

“I told you it was pleasant."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She shifted angrily, freezing when she realized too much struggle would result in her plunging from his arms, and instead she held herself rigid, glaring at him with all the terrible awe of a wrathful sidhe. He flinched away from it, closing his eyes momentarily as he gathered himself. Leia and Lady Mara had tried to explain to him the innate power of the sidhe, that aura of grace and command and allure that called for immediate obeisance, but he had borne the brunt of their formidable anger enough times to think himself capable of facing Rey’s.
> 
> How very wrong he was.

He had let Rey fall asleep in his arms as the scrubland gave way to open desert sands further north. It was a fairly boring trip over miles of harsh sands, and the rising thermals mixing with the cool air above were not easy to navigate, although it would only get rougher over the ocean. She had been so exhausted last night, she deserved her rest. Or at least, he told himself that to soothe the growing unease in his conscience. He knew he should have told her the truth last night, and he had intended to when he carried her back from the oasis, but she had fallen asleep the moment he laid her down.

Now he was simply putting it off because he didn’t want to confront her with his duplicity over the baking sands, but when they came near enough to the coast to sea the thin blue line of the ocean, he shifted her gently so he could kiss her forehead and woke her.

Like the graceful, noble creature she was, his Lady Reyna did not startle or make indignant sounds upon waking. She simply opened her deep, liquid hazel eyes, made golden in the sunlight, and smiled such a brilliantly joyful smile his heart nearly burst.

“Kylo,” she said softly, reaching to touch his face. “I keep expecting to wake up from this impossible dream.”

He nodded his head northwards, where the blue line of the ocean grew steadily nearer, though he could not bring himself to look away from her more unfamiliar beauty. “We’re coming up on the ocean. I thought you might like to see.”

“The ocean?” She turned her head, craning her neck to see past his arms. “Where are we? I thought the kingdom of Ren was in the southern wastelands.”

“Ah,” he started, fumbling for the right words. “I’m afraid I must apologize again. I am not the prince of Ren, and that is not where we travel to. Queen Amilyn is a good and loyal friend of my mother’s, and we used her kingdom as a cover to fool your father and step-mother.”

“ _What?_ ”

She shifted angrily, freezing when she realized too much struggle would result in her plunging from his arms, and instead she held herself rigid, glaring at him with all the terrible awe of a wrathful sidhe. He flinched away from it, closing his eyes momentarily as he gathered himself. Leia and Lady Mara had tried to explain to him the innate power of the sidhe, that aura of grace and command and allure that called for immediate obeisance, but he had borne the brunt of their formidable anger enough times to think himself capable of facing Rey’s.

How very wrong he was.

“Take us to the ground, _now!”_ She hissed, and it was as if claws of ice gripped his heart. If he had been on his feet before her, her voice would have had sent him to his knees. As it was, he found his wings almost too weak to hold them aloft.

He was already banking, headed for a high mesa just to the west, when he came to his senses and tried to shake off her demand.

“Please, Princess, I can explain everything -”

“Then start explaining!” She commanded sharply. He wondered if she was even aware of the power she held, if she was harnessing it on purpose or if it was simply the natural expression of a sidhe’s gifts. “ _Now,_ Kylo. Or whoever you are! Is that even your real name?”

“No. It’s not. My real name is Ben - Ah, Obi-wan, actually. But I prefer Ben, even my mother calls me Ben.” His shoulders slumped in defeat. He couldn’t fight her power _and_ concentrate on their route. Flying wasn’t at all instinctive, it was a skill each seraphim had to learn themselves, and though he was rather accomplished among his peers and his family, it was still work. “I’m the Crown Prince of Alderaan and Naboo,” he admitted. “Son of Leia, Queen of those realms and matriarch of House Organa and House Amidala. And my father is-”

“Captain Solo. The pirate. I should have recognized the story,” she snapped unhappily. “When, precisely, did you plan on telling me any of this? Not that I have any choice now, but you might have mentioned it sometime before you talked me into _consummating_ a marriage that hasn’t even taken place yet. Or perhaps _last night_ when we had _time_?”

Oh, her wrath was unbearable, it slipped under his skin and rattled his bones, making him feel absolutely wretched, and he longed to throw himself at her feet and beg - _beg_ \- for her mercy. Seraphim were not made to suffer such plights of conscience, their power was in righteousness and justice, their magic granted by the holy saints. To be the cause of her pain - to bear the repercussions of his own duplicity - it tore him apart.

His heart pounded. She was his lady, and he had wronged her, and he deserved to suffer, but it hurt physically, in his shoulders and chest, and he felt tears form at the corners of his eyes. So, Crown Prince or not, beg he would, anything to stop the flood of agony that wracked his whole being.

“Oh, Rey. Reyna. My lady, please - Please, I love you, I did not intend to cause you distress, believe me, but it was the only way - we had to get you away from them, and your father would never allow the Crown Prince of such a large and influential country to court you.” He peered down at her, eyes wide with torment. “The Marquise of Cloud City is a close friend of my father’s, ever since he came to our court after being exiled, my parents and our allies have been working on plans to free you. The lie was _necessary_ to fool your father and step-mother… As was… the first night… when I needed to guard you with my magic from whoever was following us.”

She was silent, but when he sought and was allowed to keep her gaze, her eyes weren’t openly hostile. Instead she frowned, teeth worrying at her bottom lip as she mulled over his words. She sighed, finally, leaning out over his arm again to look down. They were past the mesa, now, nearly at the white sand of the beach, the ocean dominating the horizon as far as the eye could see.

“Alderaan is a magic-crafted island, isn’t it?” She asked, tabling his deceit for a moment. He just nodded, afraid of incurring her wrath again by saying something else. “Land on the beach. I want to feel the ocean around my feet.”

“Okay,” he mumbled carefully, eyes glued to her face for any indication of her mood. She still curled stiffly in his arms, her hands gripping his biceps with the least amount of familiarity possible, and her expression was closed.

She seemed almost surprised when he circled around to land on the beach, gently setting her on her feet. His princess walked with grace even on the sand, her feet hardly sinking in at all, stopping just where the waves lapped against her boots. She stood with her back to him, looking out over the water, and then she knelt and in a moment her feet were bare, her boots held in one hand as she stepped carefully down to the water until it rushed in over her ankles.

“Can you swim, Your Highness?” He asked worriedly. He couldn’t, of course, seraphim were creatures of the sky, a fact that had both fascinated and annoyed his parents.

When he was smaller, and his wings weren’t so bulky, Han had taught him the basics, but he quickly grew to where it didn’t matter that he could tread water, his waterlogged wings dragged him down. When he had come back from Ahch-To, his father declared that he’d traded the sea for the sky, and though he couldn’t change his nature anymore than a selkie could grow wings, the comment had hurt more than it should have. His mother’s Royal Guard had welcomed him and Jacen into their aerial corps, and sometimes he felt as if Captain Wren was more a mother to him than Leia.

He hoped such a divide wouldn’t grow to separate Rey from him as well, as he watched her delight in the foaming waves rolling over her toes. She turned, giving him a half-smile and eyeing the way he held his black wings high, far back from the shore.

“You can’t can you?” She asked softly, gesturing to the restricting appendages. He shook his head slightly.

“No. My father taught me when I was younger, but the feathers weigh me down now.” He glanced out over the waves wistfully. “I miss it. I love the ocean. Especially the beach, where I can stand and feel the waves.”

Rey lifted her eyebrows and held out her hands invitingly. “Come and stand with me, then.”

He studied her, frowning. Every part of him wanted to do exactly that, and her outstretched hand called to him as a sign of her possible forgiveness, but the warrior in him hesitated. This was a deserted part of the coast, with no fresh water inlets for miles around, but if his feathers got wet from the spray it could hinder their ability to make a quick escape, and they weren’t completely safe from the Fomorians yet. Still, he wanted badly to win his way back into her good graces, and he was tall enough to keep himself dry if they were just walking along the edge of the water.

Sighing, he bent and quickly removed his boots and socks, securing them around his neck by the laces, and Rey made a happy noise when he came to join her barefoot explorations. He took her hands carefully, reverently kissing each palm, and was surprised when she turned herself in his arms, pressing her back to his chest and drawing him to rest his arms just beneath her breasts

“Thank you. It’s beautiful.” She sighed, leaning her head back against his shoulder, and closed her eyes. “I’m not thrilled about all this. But, I understand. Just… I need some time to think it all through. Uncle Lando, Mara, your family…”

“There’s something else you should know,” he grimaced as she turned to look at him with those sharp eyes. “My mother consulted with my Uncle Luke and a few other premier sorcerers in the court. It all depends on you, but… There might be a way for you to claim your ascendancy.”

Her wide, bright gaze filled him with joy, and relief. Inwardly, he kicked himself for not telling her that part sooner, because as soon as she leapt into his arms, wrapping her lithe body around him, arms clinging to his neck while her legs squeezed his waist, he knew everything between them would be alright. Ben Solo held his princess tightly, his face against her neck, breathing her in as she surrounded his senses.

“Oh, Rey, Rey, I’m sorry… I should have told you… Gods, help me, I feared your wrath and my fear only made it worse -” He realized he was sobbing, and probably clutching her far too tightly, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop either.

“As far as I see it, the only thing you have to really account for is _last_ night.” She sighed, stroking his hair soothingly. “Shhh, it’s alright Ky- Ben. Honestly, it’s… I forgive you, you idiot. But I hope you’ve learned your lesson.”

“Yes. Gods, yes, Rey, my lady - I will never lie to you again. I think the pain of it might actually kill me.” He let go of her slowly as she made a noise of concern, drawing back just far enough to look into his eyes. Her wide-eyed expression of alarm startled him.

“Ben?” She reached up to cup his face, brushing tears from his cheek. “Are you alright? I - I didn’t mean to - I’ve never - I think it’s because we -”

“I know.” He caught her hand in his, kissing her fingertips before allowing her to wrap her arms back around his neck. “I brought this on myself.”

“I was angry, but… I didn’t realize it would affect you so much…” She blushed, her eyes falling to his lips, and he couldn’t resist the urge to kiss her. Softly, almost chaste, intended as a gentle affirmation of his affection, but Rey wound her fingers in his hair, her small tongue darting between his lips. He moaned her name, relishing the sweet scent of her surrounding him and the taste of her in his mouth, eagerly responding in kind. Eventually, she drew away, her eyes searching his.

“I should have spoken to you last night, Rey. I swear… I will spend a lifetime making it up to you…”

“I know, I know. Please. I forgive you, Ben.” She locked her eyes on his. “Really, I forgive you. And I apologize for losing control of my powers… I have had so few people in my life that I could ever trust, and to find out you lied when I was just beginning to feel safe with you… I am sorry for it, but seeing how much my wrath has injured you, at least I know I can trust you without a shadow of doubt.”

“You can, my lady. I swear to you -” Carefully, he set her on her feet, and her eyes snapped down when he knelt on one knee before her. “Princess Reyna. I swear to you my sword and my life and all that is mine to give. I will be a faithful and loving husband, should you still wish to be my wife, and I give you my word as a prince and knight, I will never lie to you again.”

The object of his affection stared down at him with wide eyes as the air moved about them in swirling bands of silver and gold light, and they both gasped as the magic surged through them, _her own_ magic, another gift of the sidhe, the power of the oathbond. He was hers, now and forever, the power of her magical geas binding him more truly than any ceremony, or even the seraphim’s mating ritual, and he did not, for a single second, regret any word of it.

Rey stared down with trembling lips and tears dripping from her eyes, and raised both hands to rest upon his head, granting him her blessing and acknowledgment. “Please, rise, my lord prince, and know that I shall honor your oath, word for word, and I am…” She swallowed as her voice trailed off hoarsely. “I would consider it a great honor, to become your wife and your queen someday.”

He stood, and she rose on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear in a tremulous voice. “I… I think I do love you.”

“I know,” he gave her a lopsided smile, and she returned it, giggling.

“Let’s go home… Ben.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She had taken the name of her adoptive parents upon ascending the throne, and Rey had almost forgotten that Leia Organa-Solo had once been Leia Amidala Skywalker. Daughter of Padme Naberrie Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. The same Anakin that gifted Ben his beautiful wings. But Ben’s grandmother, Padme, was a sidhe so beautiful legend said it was her death that drove her seraph husband to madness.
> 
> Leia Organa-Solo was Padme’s daughter.
> 
> Her future mother-in-law, Queen of New Alderaan and Naboo… was a sidhe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm about to go into frantic pre-vacation anxiety, so I wanted to get one last chapter in. Idk if I'm gonna be able to post anything while I'm away enjoying California, but it's only a week so it won't be too long before I'm posting stuff again.

She felt her betrothed’s strong arms tighten and a low grumble of displeasure resonate through his chest even before she saw the fright below them.

“My mother…” he sighed, and she leaned over to look down as the courtyard of the castle came into view.

Rey had been dazzled, eyes eagerly sweeping over the multitude of towers and crenellations and impossibly beautiful stained glass windows of the incredible structure as they approached from the south side. Now, she realized that was all the back of the castle, the least decorated and most imposing part, from the high platforms and spires of the tower rooms, to the base of black basalt built directly into the craggy shore of the island.

From the front, the magical island sprawled outward, the east and west branches spreading out from the towering castle like wide arms, supporting the bustling, brightly-colored city of New Alderaan on the west and the similarly bright, vibrant residences on the west. But she had only a few seconds to ponder over the unexpected beauty of even the lowliest places, as the castle and its wide, busy courtyard came up rapidly beneath them. And it was every bit as bright and beautiful as the city, filled with ornate golden trim and sculpted marble, every window a masterpiece of colored glass, however, it was the  _ people _ that caught Rey’s attention, and had caused Ben’s irritated grumbling.

She swallowed against the terror welling up in her stomach, threatening to claw its way up her throat and strangle off her breath.

There were so  _ many _ . Rey didn't even know where to look. She had never seen so many fae in one place before. Of course, Ben had explained briefly about his family, his mother and father, his uncle, his closest friends… But there must have been a hundred people down there, all of them gathered to meet her… And she was scarcely prepared to go before a full court, dressed in riding clothes, with her hair in a wind-teased bun and her white cloak stained with grass and sea water.

“I don’t know what she was thinking.” He sighed heavily. “Actually, that’s a small retinue for her, but she still should have known better.”

“Ben…” her voice sounded so small, she wondered if he’d even heard it. She closed her eyes and clutched at his shoulders. “I can’t meet your mother like this, I… My hair and…”

“I know,” he said in a clipped voice. She felt him pump his wings, muscles straining with the effort of banking and changing course. “Don’t worry, Rey. I don’t know where they've set up your quarters, but I’ll take you to Lady Hera’s suite. She’s my friend Jacen’s mother, so they have a landing platform, and his sister Jaina is about your size, I think.”

She peered down as she felt the wind pull at her, just in time to see the large, golden-railed platform come up beneath them. He grunted with the landing, taking a few long strides before he came to a graceful halt, and Rey understood why the platforms were so large. There were double-paned stained glass doors leading inside, and as he settled her to her feet and made sure she was steady, one side of them creaked open hesitantly. A woman’s head, with the curved golden horns of a lamia growing out of coiled braids of white-blonde hair, and serpentine-slit golden eyes poked out of it.

“Ben? It’s just me and Jaina - I got Zeb to park outside the doors so we’ll be safe for a while.”

Rey hesitated, but he put a gentle hand on her shoulder, giving her a quick, reassuring look. Ben’s eyes were truly windows to his soul, offering a shameless expression of his every emotion, and Rey was quickly becoming dependent on them. She could see the pure, honest relief there, and knew this was someone he trusted completely.

“It’s Jyka - Lady Jykatha. I told you she’s one of my dearest friends-” he started, watching her worriedly. Rey cut him off, dropping her grip from his arm to take his hand.

“I trust you,” she said with a brief smile. He gave her hand a strong squeeze.

“Thank you,” he whispered, before calling out and guiding her towards the door. “Jyka! Come and meet my bride!”

The woman who emerged from the door was striking from head to tail. Rey very nearly forgot herself, her mouth snapping closed to stop gaping, but she couldn't help but stare, if only a little. She had never seen a lamia before, although she knew they existed from the books she read, the descriptions seemed to hardly do Lady Jykatha justice.

Coppery skin with a hint of natural glitter covered the parts of her not blessed with the shimmering gold scales that covered her hands, wrists and feet. Given the nature of her taloned toes, she was barefoot, with little anklets adorned by emeralds and tiny bells. She wore a skirt made of layers of emerald and gold silk, held by a gem-studded belt slung low over her hips, and a blouse of the same color silk beneath a supple fawnskin bodice. More green gemstones adorned her head and arms, and she held a thick fur cloak about her with one claw.

Rey almost missed the curved, ivory-hilted blade at her hip, distracted by all the shimmering colors, and she gasped as Jykatha stepped forward to hold the door, revealing a thin, scaled tail with a spade-shaped hilt. She offered Rey a warm smile, displaying tiny fanged teeth beneath her coppery lips, and dipped a clumsy curtsey as she tried to hold the door with one hand.

“Your Highness, I hope you know how delighted I am to meet you-” A sudden gust of wind on the castle heights rattled the door, causing the lamia to stumble and catch at it with both hands for balance. Rey giggled before she could stop herself, clapping her hand immediately over her mouth as the other woman righted herself.

“Sorry!” She gasped quickly. “I didn’t mean-” Rey cut off as another stray wind whipped her own cloak’s hood up over her head and she cursed, struggling with it, her eyes widening at the lilting sound of Lady Jykatha’s laughter. Still chuckling, the lamia reached out to help her, then drew her inside as Rey’s nerves finally overwhelmed her and she giggled, clutching Jykatha’s hand.

“I’m so sorry, I was really hoping we’d be friends-” the lamia gasped after a moment. Startled, Rey turned, catching her breath as she let go of Jykatha’s scaled hand.

“Why on earth wouldn’t we be friends now?”

“Oh! I just… I thought… That was quite clumsy of me…” She trailed off as Ben followed them in, firmly closing the door behind him. But Rey did not turn immediately to her prince, remaining focused on his friend.

“Please don’t think of me as so easily-offended, Lady Jykatha. I would love for us to become friends as well.” She glanced back at the towering form behind her, looking a bit cramped with his large wings pressed up against the doors. “Ben speaks so highly of you-”

From the room behind Jykatha, she heard brazen, almost vulgar laughter and she blinked in shock, her eyes trying peer further into the room, but blocked by the lamia’s swishing tail.

“Ben? The Prince of Shadows? Lord Sulks-a-lot? Speaking highly of  _ anyone _ -” the rich voice moved into the light, and Rey recognized the green tresses and liquid brown eyes of a selkie. The smooth, brown fur of some water-creature lay draped over her neck, along with necklaces bearing an assortment of river rocks, slate and flint along with mother of pearl and painted driftwood. Jykatha rolled her eyes without turning around, while Ben groaned irritably.

“Jaina, kindly go crawl back into the slimy bog that spawned you,” Jykatha growled, turning as if to protect Rey from the sharp-tongued, ill-mannered selkie.

“How dare you give such grievous insult to my dear lady mother,” Jaina replied in a blatantly sarcastic tone. “Her poor heart will be broken to shards!”

“Jaina,” Ben said scoldingly.

Jykatha crossed her arms. “Get out, go foist yourself on your family or something, certainly they deserve it more than the new princess!”

“Why are you two so protective all of the sudden? I heard from Mother and Jacen, he doesn’t even want to get married!” The girl eyed her, her gaze suddenly jumping to Rey as if she’d only just realized she was right there. “Oh, I get it. You changed your mind when you  _ saw _ her, didn’t you?”

Rey didn’t even know where to put her eyes, let alone how to respond to this entire exchange. She had an inkling of suspicion that it was not the contentious affair it sounded like, and it was clear Lady Jaina - if one could be a lady and still speak so - was very young, perhaps thirteen or so. She was only a little shorter than Rey, surprising given that she herself was taller than most fae. The sidhe were traditionally tall and long-limbed, however, and by Rey’s measurements she believed she was above average for her kind. Which meant Jaina was unusually tall and willowy for her kind. Hadn’t Ben said something about Jacen’s mother being a river selkie? Her eyes moved back up, lighting on the skin. It appeared to have four paws and long whiskers.  _So that is what an otter looks like._

“Forgive my curiosity, Lady Jaina,” she began, struggling to find her tongue. Perhaps it was easier to focus on the girl knowing that she couldn't possibly offend such a brazen child. “All the selkies of my land are sea-goers. But, Ben told me your mother is a river fae. Would you do me the pleasure of showing me your other form some day? I confess, I would dearly love to learn how to swim.”

Jaina’s eyes widened, and before Rey quite knew what she’d done, the girl had shoved past a shocked Jykatha and grabbed onto Rey’s hand with a squeal of delight. “Sure! That sounds amazing! None of these idiots have any interest in the water! I mean, of course the seraphim can’t swim with their stupid feathers and lamia can’t stand to be cold - they think  _ everything _ is cold, too, like if the water’s boiling, they might dip in a toe, but-”

She dragged Rey along as she chattered, leading her through an empty but richly-decorated sitting room, with several sea chests and a great painting of a wheeled riverboat over the mantle. The next room appeared to be Jaina’s dressing chamber, and Rey stood watching, bemused, as the young selkie rummaged through her closet herself without summoning a maid.

“I know they brought you here to change clothes, I guess you don't want to face down the queen and Council in your riding leathers, Leia is just too damn excited to finally get Ben married off, I think she was worried she’d die without him having an heir -” Rey had to hide her reddened cheeks by looking around the room, nearly fainting with relief when Lady Jykatha joined them a few minutes later.

“What magic have you cast on our little swamp rat?” She whispered with a chuckle. Rey shrugged, completely baffled herself.

“I confess, I'm not certain. Just the allure, I suppose,” she responded in hushed tones. “Or perhaps she’s been longing for a friend to swim with.”

The lamia regarded her carefully, one delicate brow raised, as Jaina climbed out of her closet and dumped an armful of dresses and assorted items of clothing on a nearby arm chair.

“Here,” she said breathlessly. “Jykatha can help you go through these, let me see if I have any shoes-”

“Somehow I think it’s the latter,” she murmured as she began sorting through the items Jaina brought out for something that would suit Rey’s willowy frame, her auburn hair and amber eyes lending themselves already to the blues and greens the selkie seemed to favor. “Although, now that I think on it, there is something about you that reminds me of Lord Lando. I expected you to be like Leia, honestly, commanding and imperious, but thank the saints-”

“Why would you expect me to be like the queen?” Rey said, startled. And then it hit her. The sidhe were the default rulers of the realms. The royal fae, they had once been called, gifted by the ancient gods with powers that made them natural leaders. Those traditions had been shaken before Rey was born, when the seraph Anakin Skywalker had been corrupted by the Fomorians and the kingdoms fell into decay under the rule of the Dark Lords. But Alderaan had been one of the last holdouts, secretly sheltering the daughter of Anakin and the last high queen, the woman who had led the war to reclaim the Realms, who had been crowned queen of New Alderaan after twin her brother raised it from the ocean floor with his formidable magic.

She had taken the name of her adoptive parents upon ascending the throne, and Rey had almost forgotten that Leia Organa-Solo had once been Leia Amidala Skywalker.  Daughter of Padme Naberrie Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. The same Anakin that gifted Ben his beautiful wings. But Ben’s grandmother, Padme, was a sidhe so beautiful legend said it was her death that drove her seraph husband to madness.

Leia Organa-Solo was Padme’s daughter.

Her future mother-in-law, Queen of New Alderaan and Naboo… was a sidhe.

The shock must have shown on her face, because Lady Jykatha was suddenly grasping her elbow and gazing at her worriedly.

“I… I just need to sit…” She whispered.

“Of course,” the lamia quickly helped her into another nearby chair. “I’m sure you've had a long journey, flying all the way like that-”

“I just - I didn’t know who Ben was at first, he had to keep up his cover before my father… And then when he told me, I was so angry… I very much dislike being lied to, nevermind the reason…” she shook herself, trying to remain calm. “I forgot about… the queen.”

“How in all the saints’ names could you  _ forget _ Queen Leia?” Jaina demanded callously, quickly shushed by Jykatha. The selkie rolled her eyes, but she did seem to give Rey a worried gaze. “I’ll ring the servants quarters and see if Chopper can bring up some wine and sandwiches. I bet stupid Ben forgot to feed her.”

Jykatha dropped to her knees besides Rey’s chair, taking her hand and squeezing it gently between her warm, scaled ones. “You forgot Leia was a sidhe, and now you're afraid of meeting her, because your father’s court didn’t exactly prepare you for the etiquette of a meeting between two sidhe of equal standing.”

“But I’m not of equal standing!” Rey protested vaguely. Jykatha tilted her head thoughtfully, clearing mulling over several responses. Rey gave her a shocked look. “Really - I’m just - a ruined princess. Truly, I am beyond grateful that the Solo family even considers me worthy of marrying their son. I can’t imagine there aren’t a hundred more suitable ladies-”

“A hundred more sidhe of Bastila’s line, who are the rightful heir to the kingdom of Coruscant? Hardly.”

“I can’t inherit my mother’s throne,” she protested. “My father will hold it until Fazma is… Until she faces the trials, I suppose. Only a woman can be queen of Coruscant, but she’s supposed to be a sidhe sorceress, too… But I made the mistake of -” She thought of Ben’s voice, firmly telling her it wasn’t her fault, and her lip trembled.

Rey froze then, eyes darting around out of focus as some new, unfamiliar emotion blossomed in her chest. Her shoulders straightened, and her chin rose. She slowly turned her attention to Jykatha, and she realized, for the first time, she was free to tell the truth. The real, hidden truth, that she had spent years struggling to bury under the cruel, manipulative control of her father.

“My step-mother arranged to have me assaulted,” she said in a voice numbed by the rapidly-expanding feeling of wrath in her stomach. “My father declared me unfit to rule, citing the fact that my impurity meant I was no longer marriageable and would be unable to invoke the ritual of ascendancy.”

“That’s -” The lamia was staring up at her with confusion and anger in her slit-pupiled eyes. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but… There is no requirement for maidenhood to initiate the rituals. Only your blood and the burnt offerings… I know the Coruscanti sorceresses traditionally used their first moon blood, but it is not necessary…”

“Yes. I realize that now,” Rey said slowly. She looked down to find Jykatha Tano had removed the sword from her belt and offered it up, held flat across both hands, her horned head bent. “Lady Jykatha?”

“I would offer you my service, Your Highness. My sword, my powers and all that I possess are yours to command,” her serpentine eyes peaked up at Rey for a brief second. “Please, my lady. I wish to help you, to fight for you.”

“You hardly know me-” Rey blinked, bemused, as the other faerie gave a quick shake of her head.

“I know your story. I see the way Ben looks at you. The way you have tamed our little Jaina with the simple offer of sincere friendship. I have no doubt that Her Majesty, Leia, will help you reclaim your throne, and I wish to add my blade to the cause.” Once again, her golden eyes darted up under the cover of her ivory-hilted scimitar, and she smiled. “And I have no doubt we will succeed, my lady, and when you and the prince return to Coruscant and establish your own court, I wish to accompany you, along with my lady, Onera. We are both trained warriors, the prince can attest to that, and I believe we could be a great asset to your court, if you accept.”

“I see.” With a sudden surge of confidence, Rey reached down and placed her hand over Jykatha’s on the hilt of the sword, grasping firmly. “I accept your oath, and pledge to honor it, to be a just and kind liege, to extend my protection to you and your family and endeavour to always be worthy of your service.  _ Provided _ , of course, that your lady agrees to it as well.”

The same power she had felt when Ben knelt before her on the empty beach surged through Rey and wrapped around them both, and Jykatha gasped at the feel of it setting in about her, the invisible but unbreakable geas.

“Please stand up now, I think Jaina’s jaw may drop off,” Rey whispered with a hint of amusement as the lamia regarded her with dazed, glinting eyes.

“What was that?” The hyper selkie demanded, eyeing the older woman as she got to her feet while Rey remained seated in the armchair. Apparently the geas used her own energy to fuel its power, after two in the last few hours, she was feeling a bit unsteady. “Why were you kneeling like that, Jyka? Were you showing off your sword? You never draw your sword like that, you told me-”

There was a polite, but insistent cough from the direction of the sitting room, a low voice that Rey immediately recognized.

“Jyka? Rey?”

“You can’t come in my dressing room, Ben!” Jaina yelled sharply. She snatched a boot from the messy floor and hurled it to where he loomed just past the doorway. He held up his arms defensively.

“I’m not, I’m not! I would like to speak to my betrothed for a moment, if you ladies can spare her?”

“Oh, wait your turn, you lurking rook! Go see how Chopper is doing with the sandwiches or something,” the lamia said with an eyeroll. “You’ve had Lady Reyna all to yourself for two days, we’re busy getting to know each other and making her presentable to meet your mother.”

“Jyka-”

“Get lost, Blackbird!” Jaina shrieked, waving another shoe at him. “We don’t want to keep Her Majesty waiting!”

He raised his hands defensively and stepped back, shooting Rey a worried glance which smoothed over at her reassuring smile. She could hear his heavy boots thumping over to what must have been the outer door to the chambers, and his low voice mingled with the chipper responses of a servant.

“Now,” Jykatha said as Rey turned back, suddenly nervous under the scrutiny of both women. “Let’s try the blue velvet with the white silk bodice. I’m sure I’ve never seen Jaina wear it.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deep green eyes the color of moss peered up at her, and a frown slowly pulled down the corners of his mouth. He was traditionally handsome, with a square jaw and perfectly-proportioned features, but to Rey not even another seraph could compare with Ben’s magnetic, otherworldly beauty.
> 
> “How can it be that he has won your heart so completely already?” Jacen murmured, glancing from her to her betrothed. She could not see his response from where she was, but Rey felt a telling flush rise to her cheeks, and her fingers gripped the arm of her chair in a desperate attempt to regain her composure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Run-Down of Rey's Ancestry.com page, because after writing this chapter I needed it too:
> 
> St. Bastila Shan(seraphine) -> a bunch of dead people ->  
> Great-Grandma Queen Renata Kryze(sidhe) had two daughters:  
> Bokattan and Setine(both sidhe).
> 
> Bokattan became Queen Bokattan Kryze Calrissian after marrying Barquiel Calrissian(ifreet), second son of the Marquise of Cloud City, and is officially the mother of Kira and Lando(both sidhe, although Lando has some ifreet traits like uncanny luck and a love of gambling).
> 
> Setine Kryze never married, but had a long, poorly-concealed affair with Obi-wan of House Kenobi(seraph), an old line of nobility famous for its powerful seraphim sorcerors. Obi-wan was the last of his line.
> 
> Queen Kira Calrissian Snoke, Rey's mother, was the natural daughter of Setine and Obi-wan, raised by Queen Bokattan as her own child. 
> 
> Of note, the throne of Coruscant is matrilineal, so even though Kira and Rey are not direct descendants of Bokattan, they still have more of a claim than Lando or his daughter, Mara.
> 
> Essentially, this means Rey is Reyna Kenobi Snoke (soon to be Solo, we hope).
> 
> Also, the fae - 
> 
> Dryads are treefolk, they look sort of like a more humanish Groot and have a talent for herbcraft and lore depending on their particular type of tree. Thus while Threepio is a tall, prim birch-type with extensive knowledge of royal lore, Kalonia is a kindly willow with uncanny empathy and herbal tonics (willow bark tea is an old treatment for pain).
> 
> Nymphs are similar, but come from all types of flora except trees, usually flowering plants, and have softer human bodies with powers of fertility magic, health tonics, empathy, etc and personality depending on their plant.
> 
> Grimalkin are feline shapeshifters, faerie cats who have human forms with a smattering of feline features and large, furry cat forms like massive Black Forest/Norwegian cats.

When Jykatha finally opened the door, Ben opened his mouth to ask if he had truly heard her pledge herself to Rey and promptly found himself at a loss for words. He had seen her dressed for her father’s court, in a fine but simple gown, but he was not all prepared to see _his_ Rey truly dressed as a _princess_. Her hair was combed and plaited and arranged beautifully in loops over the back of her head, and she had simple but sophisticated sapphire teardrops at her ears and neck.

The gown they had chosen was a cream-colored silk, its skirts slashed with deep blue, and a square neckline embroidered in the same sapphire color with silver accents. Jykatha had painted her face with the same subtle touch she used herself, a bit of powder evened out her skin tone, and a light dusting of blue and white on her eyelids brought out the green flecks in her hazel eyes. He could see they had painted her lips with some kind of pale glitter, and was quietly disappointed that he couldn’t kiss this beautiful vision before he presented her to his mother. Afterwards, however...

He stood, knowing he was staring and unable to look away, until Jykatha cleared her throat and Jaina cackled.

“Close your mouth, Blackbird!”

“Honestly, Ben!” Jykatha’s tone made him turn, just long enough for her to shoot him a teasing smirk. “You’ve got a bit of drool,” she pantomimed brushing her mouth with her sleeve. “Just here.”

He sighed, taking his eyes from Rey just long enough to return his friend’s smirk with a dark glare as Jaina cackled at her remark. Rey joined their laughter, but her eyes remained fixed on him, a slyly satisfied smile coming to her lips as he offered her his arm and she took it, fitting her slender fingers around his armor.

“Like what you see?” She whispered.

“Yes,” he said, without further explanation, going to lead her to the door. Jykatha and Jaina had acted fairly quickly, but it had still taken them the better part of an hour, with a break for refreshments before they did her makeup. He knew his mother was not going to be happy with the delay.

“Wait, wait!” She tugged him to a halt suddenly. “Where did you leave my bag?”

“Here!” Jaina retrieved it from the chair he had placed it on, before he completely forgot everything and everyone in existence besides his princess. He watched curiously as she hunted through the various pockets, pushing aside books and undergarments until she withdrew a slender, dark-metal tiara. It was set with a star sapphire in the center, and Ben gaped in recognition while Jykatha hissed at Jaina to go get her hand mirror.

The selkie held it up for Rey to arrange the crown amid her braids and pin it down, while Jykatha exchanged a look with him behind her back.

“Rey,” he asked, once she had satisfied herself with its placement. It was small, but suited her perfectly, its single prominent sapphire accented by only a few tiny, sparkling diamonds, simple but beautiful. “Where did that crown come from?”

“Oh… You remember, my great-aunt Setine?” She smiled when both he and Jykatha nodded. “My mother inherited all of her precious jewelry. Of course, Bazine and Fazma helped themselves to most of it over the years, but… I did manage to hide a few things. I never wore it, so they didn’t know it existed.”

Her eyes took in Jykatha’s surprised expression, along with Ben’s nod of acceptance. The lamia stepped forward, her slit-pupils wide as she looked it over.

“Leia was right. I can’t believe it.” Her forked tongue darted over her lips nervously, her eyes going to Ben. “Did you know?” 

“She has the ring, too.” Rey’s eyes moved between the two of them, narrowing as she followed the thread of conversation. Wordlessly, she held out her right hand, the Kenobi crest prominent on her forefinger.

“My mother would never give me a straight answer, you know,” she said in a wistful voice. “She promised she’d explain as I got older, but… I think my father had her poisoned, actually. I was very young when she died, but I remember, they argued so often, and she was always sad… Aunt Setine was always sad, too, from what I gather. I suppose they were both pining, in their own way.”

“So it is true. St. Obi-wan and Lady Setine had a daughter.” Jykatha was looking directly at Rey, and she gave her a firm nod.

“I suspect so. My mother didn’t look very much like the queen before her. My grandfather was supposedly an ifreet, but neither my mother nor I showed any such blood, not like Uncle Lando. Lady Setine was never married, but my grandmother gave all of her possessions to my mother when she passed away.” She glanced down at her ring, smiling slightly. “Royalty is so very complicated, isn’t it? My grandmother raised my mother as her own, knowing it meant she would take the throne before her own children. I suspect Uncle Lando knew as well, but he never contested it.”

“Lando certainly has ifreet blood,” Jykatha commented dryly. “Even Mara has the temper, and the red hair.”

“Yes. I remember.” Rey swallowed, raising her head and squaring her shoulders, her eyes finding Ben’s. “Well, my prince. I suppose this begs the question of how you should present me to your mother’s court.”

“No,” Jykatha shook her head. “Listen to me, both of you. Half of those people are terrified of Ben, and the other half think you’re both Fomorians. You walk into that court, and you hold your head up and carry yourself like a sidhe,” she said firmly to Rey, before turning her eyes to Ben. “And you present her as Princess Reyna, last descendent of the Royal House of Coruscant and Scion of the Kenobi bloodline. She has the ring _and_ the crown, and I am positive Lando will support you. You’ll leave them speechless.”

“For how long?” Ben questioned, his eyes darting between the two women even as he caught Rey’s hand and brushed his thumb over her ring.

“How long matters not at all, my lord,” Rey said softly, getting their attention. She smiled gently at Jykatha. “I do know how rumors work in a court, although I confess this one is much larger, I assume it works the same. When they do talk… they will have something entirely different to talk about.”

“Precisely,” the lamia said, returning Rey’s smile.

Someone must have worked quickly to reorganize the welcome party, moving everyone inside and clearing a path through the hall for them to approach, and Rey was surprised to find the party responsible was the rather stuffy castle steward, a gangly old dryad called Threepio. He met them as Ben guided her down from the residential suites to the long portrait hall that lead up to the throne room, looking Rey over with a particularly critical eye.

“I see you did manage to acquire a proper gown," he said by way of greeting. “I cannot imagine what you or the Queen were thinking, transporting a royal princess without her belongings or servants.”

“Yes, you made your objections clear before I left for Ren, Threepio,” Ben rolled his eyes, giving Rey a sort of long-suffering look. “May I present Her Highness, Princess Reyna Kenobi Snoke of Coruscant, descendant of St. Bastila Shan and last scion of House Kenobi?”

The prim-faced man blinked several times, giving Rey another, slower appraisal, and she clutched Ben’s arm more tightly than was strictly necessary.

“House Kenobi? Oh my, I’m afraid that will cause quite a stir, Master Ben. Are you quite certain that is how you wish to announce her?” He cast a fretful look over his shoulder at the large wooden door, shut tightly behind him. “Perhaps you should speak to your mother before -"

"My mother is one who suggested the possibility in the first place,” Ben cut him off coolly. “And it’s not your place to question me. Or my bride."

"Of - of course, Your Highnesses, I do apologize,” the man bowed repeatedly before straightening himself and leading the way to the door. Rey thought she caught the sound of him whispering to himself about ‘royalty’ under his breath as he strode ahead.

“What an… unusual… man. He’s your family’s servant?”

“Yes. My mother inherited him from my grandmother, Padme Amidala. I suppose one day I’ll inherit him as well, though there is a chance he won’t outlive my mother.” He sounded resigned, as if he fully expected to be saddled with the irksome dryad at some future point. Rey found she wasn’t thrilled by the idea either, but if he had managed to reorganize everything so quickly, at least it was clear he was efficient at his job.

“Are the other servants -” She was interrupted by his quick bark of laughter, and she looked away from scowling after the castle steward to see her betrothed smiling down upon her. “I’m sorry, did I say something to amuse you, my lord?”

“No… Yes, actually.” Careful of her delicately-arranged braids and crown, he found a place on the side of her head to place a quick kiss. “You should see the way your face changed when I mentioned we might inherit Threepio. Don’t worry,” he added before she could apologize. "Everyone reacts that way at first. But, I promise, my mother says he grows on you.”

“I suppose we’ll have to see about that." She took a deep breath, soothing her features and drawing her spine straight. “Shall we go on then?"

Of course, she was prepared for the gasps and whispers that followed their announcement, but she hardly had eyes for any of the rest of the court. Vaguely, she was aware of the brightly-clothed courtiers, the multitude of different fae, some of which she had never seen the like of before, but Rey’s eyes immediately scanned ahead and were locked in place, held by the steel eyes of the woman seated on the throne in the center of the room. She wore a deceptively simple gray and white gown, with a fleece-lined silver cloak, and her hair was a dark brown streaked with white under her simple golden crown. Just as Rey was studying her, she studied Rey, her expression unreadable though her eyes glittered with a keen intellect.

They did not look away from each other until Ben dropped into a slight bow before the Queen, and Rey remembered what Jykatha had said. She may be a guest in this court, and certainly she owed Leia gratitude and respect for risking her son to free her from her father’s clutches, but she did not for a moment believe the woman had done so only from the goodness of her heart. No. Leia had a son and heir, beyond the age when a suitable marriage should be arranged, and a court that was less than thrilled at the idea of his succession.

And Rey was not just the rightful heir to her own kingdom, unjustly disenfranchised by her parents machinations, she was a young sidhe with impeccable ancestry. Ben was right all along, there was not an ounce of surprise in those dark, thoughtful eyes as Threepio announced them. In fact she looked almost pleased, her eyes on Rey not just those of a mother satisfied with her son’s betrothed, but also a skilled politician recognizing a potential ally.

Rey’s curtsy was smooth, but no lower than Ben’s, a quick dip of acknowledgment, not obeisance. Leia’s eyes were the same color as her son’s, but closed where his were windows of emotion, and a slight upturn of her lips was the only reaction she gave.

“Welcome to New Alderaan, Your Highness. We hope you will find yourself at home while you reside at our court.” Her eyes only flitted away for a second as Ben bent to kiss his mother’s hand, and she gestured to the seats on either side of her, one of which Rey assumed was normally occupied by her missing husband. “Please, sit with me and allow me to introduce the premier members of my court. We will not keep you long, I am sure you wish to rest and recover from your journey, but my people are very curious about you and we would be much obliged if you would grant us a few moments.”

It was request, not an order, Rey noted, whereas she seemed to take it for granted Ben would stay and fulfil his standard obligations to the court.

“Of course, Your Majesty. I am curious to meet your people, as well.” She acquiesced with a little nod, and Ben led her to the empty seat at the Queen’s left, while he took the Crown Prince’s place at her right. He kissed her hand before he left her, lingering just long enough with his warm lips on her skin to bring a faint flush to her cheeks.

“It seems you’ve already met Lady Jaina," Leia went on once they were settled. She beckoned to an older woman with dusky skin and twin plaits of rich chocolate braids flowing over her shoulders, standing just at the base of the throne. Rey recognized the tan otterskin wrapped around her right arm, blending into the tan and cream silk of her blouse and dark vest, and noted her sleek leather breeches singling her out from the gowns and brocade of the other ladies.

“This is Lady Hera Syndulla, Grand Admiral of our navies and mother to Lady Jaina and Master Jacen,” Leia introduced. Lady Hera bowed over Rey’s hand like a man, her kind eyes open and warm.

“I hope my daughter behaved herself, but the saints know such hope is baseless.” She sighed, blinking in surprise at Rey’s return smile. “Please tell me she didn’t maul you too terribly.”

“No, Admiral, I found your daughter quite charming, actually. She has promised to teach me to swim, and I intend to hold her to it.” She heard a low chuckle from the Queen, and turned to see her leaning over towards her son as he whispered in her ear.

“Really?” Hera said with mild shock written on her face. She glanced at Leia, who nodded, bemused.

“Ben says she managed to tame her," Leia confirmed. "Perhaps you could enlighten us as to your methods, Princess?"

Rey shrugged, suddenly finding herself the focus of half the court.

“I’m not sure myself, my lady, I assure you. As far as I can tell, she was simply pleased to find that I wasn’t afraid of water like Lady Jykatha and my sweet prince.”

Hera’s eyes darted over to Leia in some unspoken communication, before she bowed again and resumed her position below the dias.

More of the Queen’s closest allies were introduced to her; Admiral Ackbar, an ocean selkie from the underwater realm of Mon Cala, with the wrinkled, weathered skin of a seasoned sea captain. Lady Evaan Verlaine, a snow sidhe, with white hair and blue-tinged skin, Commander D’acy, a polite but distant woman with willowy limbs, long fingers, and fine, flexible living branches for hair. A kindly-eyed young nymph, Captain Kaydel Connix of the Nightfall Squadron, who met her gaze with genuine interest. Rey had seen dryads before, but where the commander shared the weathered, creaky limbs and features she was accustomed to seeing in treefolk, Captain Connix had smooth skin and youthful features, her crown of leafy hair a gorgeous shade of dark crimson mixed with tiny white flowers. She gave Rey a casually flirtatious smile, and left her with one of the little star-shaped flowers tucked behind her ear.

Finally, a tall seraph with wings of emerald that lightened to a sky blue at the tips, and long hair with the same shading, came before Rey with an exaggerated bow, claiming her hand to leave a lingering kiss in the same way Ben had.

“Princess. What a pleasure to finally meet you," he said in a low drawl. “Jacen Syndulla, at your service, of course."

“Jacen!" His mother hissed in admonishment from her place nearby.

Rey jerked her hand back quickly, a shocked noise escaping her throat as she looked up to find the young man smirking and Leia firmly admonishing Ben for trying to leave his seat. She gave the seraph what she hoped was a cold glare.

“That was hardly appropriate, my lord Syndulla. Luckily I’ve had a pleasant experience meeting the rest off your family, and the Prince forewarned me about your queer sense of humor.” She smiled without malice, tilting her head slightly towards her betrothed opposite Leia. “He also warned me that he’s a bit possessive. In case you weren’t aware, although I was given to understand Ben considers you a close friend.”

Deep green eyes the color of moss peered up at her, and a frown slowly pulled down the corners of his mouth. He was traditionally handsome, with a square jaw and perfectly-proportioned features, but to Rey not even another seraph could compare with Ben’s magnetic, otherworldly beauty.

“How can it be that he has won your heart so completely already?” Jacen murmured, glancing from her to her betrothed. She could not see his response from where she was, but Rey felt a telling flush rise to her cheeks, and her fingers gripped the arm of her chair in a desperate attempt to regain her composure.

It wasn’t working. She could feel it coming on, the all-consuming fear, the memory of raised voices and her step-mother’s cold disgust. Her heart pounded and she began to look around frantically, seeking the nearest exit.

“Your Highness? I only meant to jest -” He stepped towards her and Rey visibly flinched, feeling nausea grip her stomach while her throat constricted to cut off her words.

Lady Hera was at her side in a moment, shoving her son out of the way with a few whispered admonitions, the two of them effectively blocking her from the rest of the court.

“Your Highness, what can we do?" The selkie’s voice was warm and soothing, but such compassion was alien to Rey, and it was that simple kindness that broke her.

“I - I just need to - rest,” she managed to sob, and then Ben was there, taking her hand in his, lifting her into his arms as Leia and Jacen Syndulla did their best to shield her from the prying eyes of the court. Hera led them to a small door set behind the thrones, where the royals usually entered before the court was opened, and Ben settled her in a soft chair and a glass of water was held to her lips.

“I’m sorry," she said when she could speak again. "I just - he was so close and they - I don’t know - what would your people think if they knew -”

Hera and Ben exchanged a long look, and then the selkie disappeared for a moment, returning with a short but stout man, his head and face covered in a mane of shaggy red-brown hair that also extended down his arms all the way to his knuckles and over his rugged, bare feet. Rey had not seen the grimalkin before, but she had heard his voice outside Jaina’s rooms when they were dressing her earlier, and something about the scruffy little man engendered trust.

“This is Chopper," Hera explained. “If it’s alright, we’re going to help you to your rooms. Jykatha will meet us there with the Queen’s personal physician. Is that alright? Your Highness?”

“Yes, I need to… get away from all the people…” She searched the room and found Ben, his eyes a conflux of emotion too varied for her to read. “Will you come too?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Rey, I promise. I have to go run damage control with my mother -” He shook his head irritably. “Fucking Jacen, if he weren’t in front of a dozen witnesses, I’d beat his face in. Sorry, Hera.”

“Don’t apologize to me, I’m on your side. Trust me, as soon as I get your lady situated, he’ll be getting an earful from me. And by the time Leia and the girls are done with him, he’ll be lucky to have a feather left to pluck.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, posting while on vacation! I missed you guys too much ;-)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Does it even matter what I want?” She shoved aside the bedding, feeling her body growing hot, though she was not in the least bit aroused. It had all sounded so lovely. Run away with the handsome seraph, get married in his mother’s court where there would be more fae than she’d ever seen in her life, have her own beautiful little winged children one day. Face the trials of the ascension at St. Bastila’s altar and pray there was some off chance she might pass and become the sidhe sorceress she was meant to be.
> 
> But of course, the world would never be so kind to her. She had made one mistake, as a young teenager, and because fate was cruel and awful, she would be haunted by it the rest of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning - this chapter is heavy, with several references to rape/sexual abuse, unconsentual drugging and Rey clearly has PTSD to go along with everything else. If any of those things trigger you, proceed with CAUTION.

  

Once Rey was safely ensconced in her tower suite, which she noticed had one of the large balconies engineered for the seraphim, with the windows open for air and Jykatha and her wicked scimitar guarding the door, she closed her eyes and focused on controlling her breathing. It was easier here, she felt safer with her door guarded, and the tower rooms were high enough up to draw in a healthy breeze. Grounding herself was always easier when she could get to fresh air, although she knew she would miss Rose when she went to sleep later. Her lady was accustomed to her spells, always ready with a pot of tea and smelling salts if she couldn’t open the window, happy to share Rey’s bed at night in case she awoke in the midst of a nightmare.

Her step-mother’s physicians had prescribed packets of herbs to be steeped in a strong wine to soothe her and help her sleep, but she had not brought any with her. Hopefully Leia’s healers had something similar, and wouldn’t cast off her spells as moodiness the way the physicians in Coruscant had.

“Your Highness?" The gruff voice of the grimalkin who had carried her, Lady Hera’s friend and servant, sounded through the door with a firm knock. “The healer is here."

"Yes, come in please,” she called. Hera and Jykatha had helped her into a dressing gown and robe, loaned from one of the other ladies’ closets, and she was propped up on pillows and nestled comfortably under the soft bedding.

The woman who entered was not surprising, much like the old dryad who had tended to Rey’s mother before Snoke sent her away, she had a kindly, weathered face and carried a satchel full of strong-smelling medicines.

“Your Highness. My name is Kalonia. May I sit with you a moment?”

“Of course,” Rey shifted to give her room, although the bed was ridiculously large already, wider than both her arms stretched out from the center and a good foot and a half longer than her. The healer sat gently on the edge of the bed, taking her hand and holding it palm up while she traced the lines of it with a slender finger.

“Oh, child." She had closed her eyes while she read the history of Rey’s body with her soothing magic, filling her with warmth and lacing the crisp breeze with scents of lavender and vanilla. Now she opened them, peering at her with eyes that had seen the source of every ache in her body and soul, and Rey couldn’t help it. She broke into tears, and the dryad leaned forward to enfold her in a warm, if prickly embrace. “You poor dear. It’s alright, cry as much as you must. Better to let it out.”

Rey sat back after a moment, drying her tears on her sleeves, forcing deeper breaths in and out of her lungs.

“I’ve cried enough, I think,” she said firmly. "I just need something to help me sleep."

"Of course you do.” Kalonia gave her a thoughtful stare, as if trying to choose her words carefully. “I am afraid, Your Highness, that in addition the shock and stress of your change in situation, you are suffering the effects of an opium withdrawal.”

“I - I’m what? I never - I don’t smoke -”

“I believe you, dear. Unfortunately, the medicines provided by your father’s physicians…”

Rey felt a horrible sinking feeling deep in her stomach. Of course, she had always suspected there was something dangerous in those little packets, especially with the way they tried to force them on her if she were even the slightest bit moody, but she hadn’t been certain. She laid back against the pillows, closing her eyes.

“I haven’t taken anything for nearly three days. Surely, you must be mistaken. Wouldn’t I have felt it before now?” She opened her eyes when the healer was silent, eyeing Kalonia impatiently. “What is it you don’t want to tell me?"

“The seraphim have a kind of natural anesthetic effect on those they are close to,” she explained. Rey said nothing, and the healer tilted her head, waiting.

“You mean because we… Because I let Ben make me his mate. His magic has been keeping me numb during the journey.”

"I’m not here to judge you, Your Highness. I’m only concerned for your health. It may be beneficial for you to continue spending your nights with him.” She paused to dig through her satchel. "If you have concerns about the possibility of conception before you’re ready, I can -”

"He said that’s only possible if he flies," she said in quiet voice, glancing over at the balcony doors.

She had planned to make him wait, now that they were safely through their journey, until they were officially wed in the eyes of the court as well as the land. Now Rey felt even more withdrawn and trapped than she had when her father first slammed her with the impending betrothal. Was there nothing she would be allowed to decide for herself?

“Oh, right, the seraphim must fly. Well, let me leave you with some more mild sedatives for the time being. The Prince cannot be by your side constantly -”

"Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to be a burden to him,” she said dryly. The healer looked up sharply at her tone, her leaf-green eyes full of concern.

“My lady? Have I offended you in some way?"

“Does it matter?" Rey sighed irritably. "Just leave your concoctions and let me rest. I’m sure his lordship will be around to check on me soon enough.”

"Please, Princess, I am only here to help -”

"Can you take away my moods, healer?" She snapped back. "Cure me of these spells of sickness and fear, or the nightmares that wake me with a pounding heart and perspiration sticking me to my bedsheets?”

"I can leave you some sedatives, as I said. And I’d recommend a glass of strong wine at night, and warn against any morning stimulants like caf or tea. There are mental exercises, perhaps Lady Ahsoka or the prince could teach you…” she trailed off as Rey turned away, staring resolutely out the window, ignoring the dryad woman’s attempts to engage her until she finally left with an unhappy click of the tongue. Rey could hear her speaking in low tones to Jykatha and Chopper outside her door.

“Rey?" Jykatha called after a long moment. "Is there anything we can do? Do you want to talk?"

“Not really," she closed her eyes, letting her consciousness drift as she had taught herself to do years ago when her spells began and the physicians kept trying to keep her heavily sedated. She had learned then to keep to herself during these times. As long as she wasn’t bothering anyone, they were unlikely to bother her. But New Alderaan was not Coruscant. The people here cared for each other, and they cared for her even if she had only known them very briefly, and she held a much higher position in the political structure.

It wasn’t long before there was a rustle of wings outside her window, and a tap at the glass drew her attention. Slowly, she opened her eyes and nodded for him to come in.

“I came as soon as I could." He sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, eyes cautiously observing her. “I spoke with Lady Kalonia."

“Good. Then I will not have to repeat what she told me.” She met his eyes expectantly. "Why are you still sitting there? Come and _fuck_ me into submission. Apparently that’s the only treatment for whatever it is that is broken in my head. Or do you not want me now that you know all of my horrible secrets?”

His eyes were wide, he looked upon her as if she had suddenly grown a tail, or sprouted horns from her head. Perhaps, in a way, she had.

“I warned you about my moods." She looked at him, just sitting there watching her with an expression of rage and sorrow, and felt tears prick at her eyes again. “If you have nothing to say, please just leave me be. I cannot bear to feel your eyes upon me as if I’ve betrayed you somehow. Lady Jykatha or Chopper can call for a kettle to make the tea your wretched healer left. Hopefully it will put me to sleep. Sometimes it gets better when I wake up.”

"I’m not leaving you, and I do _not_ feel betrayed.” He held her gaze steadily. “May I come and hold you?"

“Does it even matter what I want?” She shoved aside the bedding, feeling her body growing hot, though she was not in the least bit aroused. It had all sounded so lovely. Run away with the handsome seraph, get married in his mother’s court where there would be more fae than she’d ever seen in her life, have her own beautiful little winged children one day. Face the trials of the ascension at St. Bastila’s altar and pray there was some off chance she might pass and become the sidhe sorceress she was meant to be.

But of course, the world would never be so kind to her. She had made one mistake, as a young teenager, and because fate was cruel and awful, she would be haunted by it the rest of her life.

“Rey. Of course it matters what you want. Of course!" He got up and went to the door, calling for Jykatha to have a kettle brought up, then he went to the wash basin beside the bed and soaked a cloth in the cool water. “Sit up and lift your hair, let me put this on your neck. It will help with the overheating.”

"Overheating?”

"From the opium withdrawal. I know you must be burning up." It did help, and she gazed up at him, unsure whether to apologize or thank him. She decided on both, just to be safe.

“Thank you. I… I owe you an apology. I’m not sure I’ve ever spoken that word in my life.” She closed her eyes and sighed, her shoulders relaxing under his gentle massage. Rivulets of water dripped down her back, soaking into her dressing gown and pillows, but she didn’t mind it at all. Anything to cool her down at the moment could only be a blessing. “How did you know that would help?"

“My mother had a terrible addiction to drink when I was younger. She would swear off of it for months, but then end up alone one night and the whole wretched cycle would start again. Usually because my father left in the heat of an argument…” Rey could sense there was more he wanted to share with her, certainly there was more to the King and Queen’s story than such a black-and-white picture portrayed, but he was hesitant. Had she made him afraid to speak the truth to her somehow? Suddenly their moment on the beach, when he had begged her forgiveness with tears in his eyes under the assault of her sidhe wrath returned to her, and she gasped, pressing her fingers to her lips.

“That hasn’t happened in a long time," he was quick to reassure. “Please don’t think ill of her… My father made his own mistakes that drove her to it… My parents have never had the easiest of relationships, but I do believe they love each other. I remember my father tending to her those long nights after she’d stop cold, and sometimes she would let me sleep in her bed to help soothe her.”

“You soothed your mother? With your… seraph magic?” His eyes caught hers and he frowned, kneeling beside the bed so he could be at a level with her. Very lightly, he rested his hand over hers, leaning in closer when Rey didn’t pull away.

“Yes. I can soothe you, too, if you’ll let me. I won’t… I can have the servants bring extra blankets and sleep on the floor, if you’d rather.” He glanced down at where their hands touched on the bed, then back up at her. “Rey. Reyna, my princess. I’m sorry that I… I should have made a run for the border. The guards who chased us were probably just dannan, I might have held them off with my blade -”

"Kreia’s guardsmen carry cold iron. It would have been a terribly risky thing to attempt,” she cut in. "I don’t regret letting you make me your mate, I was simply… overwhelmed and unprepared for the way your friend regarded me. It felt as if I were on trial all over again, all those eyes, judging me… And then the healer, she said your magic was soothing me and I thought…”

She looked down into his unbelievably patient, eager eyes, and sighed. Very purposefully, she turned her hand beneath his and clasped her fingers around his wide wrist.

"I want to wait until we are wed before the court. I was bracing myself all day, trying to gather the right words to tell you, I know you probably think it foolish, but I want you to respect me as your wife and future queen.” She didn’t look up, preferring to rest her gaze on their hands for fear she would lose her nerve. “And when Kalonia came and read my palm with her healing magic, it was such a shock to have someone suddenly know all of my most personal experiences, I just felt so… helpless. I know she is your mother’s healer, and I am grateful, believe me, but I cannot stand the way she looked at me.”

His fingers flexed in her grasp and she looked up, briefly, to see a flash of annoyance cross his features. “You don’t have to see her again. I’ll ask Lady Ahsoka or my uncle to treat you. Just because she has my mother’s trust doesn’t mean you have to trust her as well.”

"Thank you.” She felt her shoulders drop in relief. "I think I will take the medicine she brought, for now at least.”

"Of course," he let go of her hand as he rose, and she felt suddenly restless, as if her skin were covered in scratchy burlap. It was all she could do not to get up from her bed and tear at her clothes, and it struck her suddenly that perhaps she had misunderstood the healer. Certainly if Ben’s presence had soothed his mother, they needn’t lie together for it to soothe her as well?

By the time he came back into the room with the medicine, Rey was pacing the floor beside the window, and she almost sobbed at the flood of relief that filled her the moment he came to her side and rested a hand lightly on her arm.

“Oh, this is awful! I don’t want to make you as miserable as me, my lord, but I beg of you… Please stay with me. I will… I think I may concede my previous limitations if you demand it, but -”

"Shhh… Rey." She let herself be drawn into his arms, and relaxed against his chest as his wings came up to encircle them, flooding her with his breezy, pine forest scent. “Of course I’ll stay with you. And if you wish to wait until we are married to lie with me again, I will honor your wishes. I may not _like_ it,” she could feel him smiling against her hair, and he planted a kiss to the top of her head before continuing. “But I will always honor your wishes. I swore myself to you, do you not remember that? I am your servant, direct me as you will.”

"Truly? Will you stay the night and hold me in your arms?” She leaned back, craning her neck to meet his gaze as he looked down on her with absolute devotion shining in his chocolate eyes.

“I will do as my lady commands, and no more." He cupped her face, searching her expression until he was satisfied that she believed him. “Will you rest now, my heart? I have asked Ahsoka to visit us later during the sacred hour.”

"Yes. Thank you for… You are too good to me. I haven’t enough breath to thank you for all the kindness you’ve shown me.” She let him settle on the bed and fold her into his arms, realizing now why the mattress was so unexpectedly large. Even folded at rest, his wings nearly spanned the width of the headboard, and when he actually spread them and reclined against it, the tips of them brushed the side tables.

Safe and soothed by his magic and the medicine, Rey found herself drifting away easily, and for once her dreams were restful and pleasant, the darkness that normally haunted them restrained to lurk only in shadow.

  
  


“Saints damn you, Jacen! She is _not_ a Fomori! You are a seraph, is your own judgment not enough for you?” Jykatha was pacing, her spade tail switching above her hips like an angry tiger. She had come to Onera’s darkened quarters in the castle basements as quickly as she could after the Prince arrived to watch over his betrothed, only to find Jacen was already there.

“That’s just it! I _can’t_ trust my judgment, she’s so - she’s beautiful -” He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Jace, chill," Onera said tiredly. She fixed her eyes on Jykatha, who had the presence of mind to stop pacing, although her tail still twitched like a metronome behind her. “Was my father or Luke there?"

“Lord Ezra was in the back, guarding the doors with Lady Pashi.” She shrugged. “I’m sure if he sensed a disturbance, your mother would have Princess Reyna in custody right now.”

"They’ve certainly had plenty of time to discuss options with the Queen while Jacen has been whining at me.” Onera shot the seraph a scowl, before turning her bright green irises on Jyka. “You promised to come to me first thing!”

"I came as soon as I could! Would you rather I left the Princess alone with just Chopper and that stodgy old tree-woman?” She rolled her eyes, sitting beside Onera in her nest of comforters and pillows. “I’m here now, my lady. Will you hear my report?"

Onera smiled, taking Jykatha’s hand and placing a kiss on the back of her golden-scaled hand, blithely ignoring Jacen’s grumble of disgust. “Of course I will hear you, love."

“I like her," Jykatha said honestly. "What’s more, I believe either my mother or Luke had a vision of some kind regarding her favorably.”

"How would you even know, you’re no sorcerer -”

"Please, withhold your comments, Lord Syndulla, or I shall scream for my father at the top of my lungs in fright at an uninvited male in my bedchamber,” Onera threatened. "Keep going, Jyka.”

"What I _know_ ,” she stressed, "is that at breakfast this morning my mother mentioned she had intended to be there to greet the Princess, but had a sudden change of plans. And then she all but ordered me to befriend the girl, make sure she was presented favorably before the court, and keep all the idiots away from her. I, unfortunately, forgot about _our_ idiot, but before Jacen shocked her half to death, I found her to be quite friendly and sincere. I mean it, there is no malice in this woman, no duplicity or manipulation. She has been sheltered, yes, and… I do not know the details, but I believe she was… grievously assaulted by her stepmother’s soldiers. Given that she’s weathered such a horrific thing and still carries herself with grace and kindness - she even won over _Jaina_ \- I believe she and Ben will make an excellent match. Which is certainly good, as they are quite besotted with each other.”

“Jaina? She won over Jaina?"

“She can swim," Jykatha laughed softly. “Or at least, she wishes to learn, and thought to ask her to teach her.”

"She made friends with Jaina, is in love with Ben and has your mother’s protection,” Onera mused. "I am inclined to agree with Jyka, Jacen. You got caught in face with the sidhe allure and you’re jealous. It’s not the same as Mara.”

"There’s more,” Jykatha spoke up into the moment of awkward silence. "I have pledged her my fealty -"

“What?!"

“ _Jyka!_ ”

"Stop, stop!” She got up, hastily waving them into silence. “She would only accept it on the condition that you agree to join her court as well.”

"She knows about us?” Onera asked in surprise. Jykatha nodded. "And she wasn’t… weird about it?"

“No. I didn’t get any feeling like that from her at all. She acted just as if I were seriously courting a man.” They shared a look, a sense of relief, and a cautious hope, spoiled by Jacen’s muffled curse as he kicked a clothes chest.

“If you break my things I really will call my father,” Onera snapped. "Knock it _off_ , Jace. Rey isn’t Mara, she’s not stringing Ben along for the attention. Where would she even go if she _wanted_ to leave here?”

"Maybe she’s waiting until we make our strike against Snoke. Then you idiots will be bound by your oaths and you’ll face off against your own people!”

"No, it was a mutual oath, Jacen. I pledged her my sword and she pledged me her protection and loyalty as a liege to myself and my entire family.” Onera looked up sharply, and Jykatha met her calculating eyes.

“Our entire family. The Queen of Coruscant will give her protection to our _entire_ family," the nyxie murmured, now fully awake. "That’s why you pledged yourself to her."

Jykatha gave a hesitant nod, glancing at Jacen’s morose expression. “Yes. That and… Lord Brendol…”

At that, Onera and Jacen both turned to her in surprise. Jykatha closed her eyes and clenched her fists. She had told some of her story to Onera, in pieces when she felt it was relevant, but besides her lover, she had never spoken of it outside of the single private audience with Leia and her mother.

“I know what it’s like," she managed to start with. “To be violated like that. I was too young to know better and too small to fight.”

"Brendol Hux was banished.” Jacen leaned forward, his sea-green eyes wide, sensing her fear and sorrow with a seraphim’s natural empathy. “We were told he was plotting treason."

“Well, that was true in a way.” She swallowed. "He told me I didn’t need magic to be powerful. That I could… that I could learn to control people with my other assets… He promised to teach me.”

"Jyka,” Jacen’s expression had slowly transformed from confused to horrified to pure, tightly-controlled rage. “I was twenty-eight, I think, when they banished Lord Brendol.”

"Yes.” She met his gaze evenly. "I was twelve.”

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We may fight, Ben, I can’t tell the future." She leaned back, wanting to see his eyes, and he peered down into her gaze with a somber expression. “But I swear to you - yes, I know I am bound by my own magic, I do not swear lightly -” she snapped as he started to put a finger over her lips. “I want this marriage to work more than I can ever remember wanting anything in my entire life. So I swear to you, so long as you are my husband and faithful to me as your wife and queen, I will not lock you out of my rooms.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly smut and fluff here after the last chapter.

He was still there when the sacred hour came upon them, although Rey had shifted in her sleep to lie on her side, and he accommodated her with one arm stretched beneath her. She had unconsciously clung to him, both of her hands wrapped firmly around his muscular forearm and hand, and her vision was darkened by the sweep of his feathers.

Rey smiled slightly to herself as she heard his deep snores fade from behind her, his soft moan of surprise, whether from waking or finding just how inextricably wound together they had become. The wing above her stretched and shifted, and she sighed. She was growing accustomed to the comforting weight of those inky feathers, a living blanket of velvet warmth.

“Rey?" He asked in his husky, sleep-filled voice. She rolled over in his arms, turning around to face him and pressing her lips to his, breaking away with a pleased grin at his grunt of surprise. It wasn’t a precisely chaste kiss, and once he gathered himself, his arms tightened around her, one hand coming up to tangle his fingers in her hair and hold her head still as he leaned back in, plundering her mouth eagerly. She whimpered, reaching out to cup his face in her palm while she responded in kind, catching his tongue and then his lip to suck on until he growled and released her.

“I thought you wanted to wait," he panted, eyes burning into hers. Rey smirked while she caught her breath, studying all the varigated colors of chocolate and caf in his eyes.

“I do, but I never said you couldn’t kiss me. Or touch me,” she teased. "I’ve grown quite fond of your affections, I don’t want to deprive myself of you entirely.”

“Oh, you selfish, mischievous little creature!” He shook his head. "You offer me the sweetest wine, but only in small tastes. Do you mean to torture me?”

“Oh yes," she replied, now with an expression of honest mischief. “I intend to have you longing for my body so that it colors your every night and haunts you even during the day, so when we are finally wed, it will be as if you’ve entered me for the first time all over again. And we shall burn all the brighter for enduring such a torturous wait.”

“We?" He played with her hair in his fingers, caressing the soft strands tangled in her sleep. “Do you mean to tell me you crave my body as it craves you?”

She let her eyes drop down the length of the bed, over his muscular chest scarcely covered by the thin undershirt that left his broad arms bare and heavy, his well-defined abdomen and thighs that were larger than her waist. And the bulge of his manhood, pushed out against the soft suede leather of his pants. When her gaze moved back up to him, slowly allowing him to catch her eyes, she made no effort to hide her pleasure in his form.

“Oh yes, my lord. I do," greatly daring, she seized the hand in her hair and dragged it down, dipping below the hem of her silken shift to rest his fingers within the crevice of her thighs. Her body burned hot under his touch, and her own audacity was shocking to her, but she left it up to him to decide if he would take that last step, to delve into her most secret of places. “See for yourself," she whispered. “I can see the sign of your desire clearly enough. It is only fair to offer you mine.”

He stared at her, eyes wide and enchanted, and slowly he dragged his fingers upwards, sliding the silk fabric up over her hip. He gripped her there for a moment, his hand hot and heavy and completely encompassing the curve of her body, before he dipped his fingers down and brushed gently through the moist tangle of curls below. Rey closed her eyes, her head falling back against the hard muscle of his arm beneath her, while his other hand eagerly prodded her legs apart.

“Oh, Rey,” he leaned over to whisper in her ear. "You did say I could touch you."

“Yes.”

"You didn’t specify where,” he continued, shifting and leaning over her, using his superior weight to push her onto her back, giving him more room to explore between her parted thighs.

“I - I didn’t, did I?" She couldn’t get a breath in to think, feeling her body respond enthusiastically to his warm fingers, moving almost subconsciously to help him find the very center, where her nerves flared and her body sang. Her cry when he found just the right spot was loud to her ears, and Rey covered her mouth with one hand while the other traitorously moved to grip his wrist and guide him on. “Ben! Oh - oh, please..."

"Please what, Princess?” He smiled down at her coyly, and Rey knew she was blushing, but with her body already keyed up, she couldn’t keep herself from wanting more.

“Please, can you..."

"Say it.” His hand stilled and she whined, rocking her hips desperately. "Tell me, Rey. I am bound to your command. What do you want?"

“I want you to… to pleasure me. With your fingers..." She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "And..."

“And?" He massaged her in soft, languid circles, smiling as she narrowed her eyes and scrunched her face in thought, her grip on his wrist firmly anchoring him down.

“And,” She took a breath and spoke all at once in a hushed whisper. “If you like, I’ll take you in my mouth again and you can spill on my stomach.” Rey held his eyes, daring him to defy her when she offered something they both clearly desired.

Ben’s startled laugh transformed his face from dark and sly to surprised and delighted, and the way his eyes sparked with a flare of pure affection took her breath away.

“Okay," he murmured, leaning in to seal the agreement with a kiss. "We’ll play by your rules until the wedding.”

“Really?" He trailed his mouth down her neck, nibbling the point of her ear gently before moving down to trace her collarbone with the tip of his tongue. All the while his clever fingers moved, pressing firmly until her moans let him know he was doing something right, increasing the pressure of his circling fingers.

“Yes. I have little choice, Princess." He moved down lower, mouthing her breasts and stomach through the silk of her nightgown, and then he was pushing it up to bare her all the way to her navel, his hot kisses searing over the smooth skin of her hips and thighs.

“What are you -"

"You said I could kiss you, and you offered to use your mouth on me,” he explained, glancing up to see her breasts heaving in shallow pants. “I assume this is okay too."

She didn’t know how to argue with that, so she just nodded, her back arching as he lowered his head between her legs and slipped his tongue out to circle the same place he had found with his fingers. Rey felt hot all over, the molten pleasure she recognized building in her body, and she grasped the sheets with one hand while the other dove into Ben’s soft hair, encouraging his attentions as she writhed against him. The occasional brush of his feathers against her bare legs was exquisite, and she moaned and let her fingers drift from his hair to caress the curve of his wing.

“Ahhh… You like them, don’t you?” He teased, pausing his efforts to flex both massive appendages out in an upward sweep, startling a delighted gasp from Rey.

“Of course I do. You’re beautiful." She glanced down, catching the glint of some strong emotion in his eyes. “You are, Ben. Your coloring is striking." She slid her hands down to trail over the pale flesh of his shoulders. “I hope our children are as beautiful as you."

“Our children? You want a seraphim?” He seemed genuinely surprised, and she smiled.

"I want two. A seraphim with wings of night and a sidhe with silver hair like my grandmother Setine.”

"Hmm.” He studied her, adoration shining in his gaze. "I will love any child of ours, but I hope they have your eyes. We’ll probably have twins, you know.”

"No! Why - Oh, your mother!” Her eyes grew wide and he smirked.

“Don’t worry, we won’t lack for caregivers.”

He dipped his head to kiss the inside of her thigh and her reply was lost as he slipped both hands under her hips, lifting her to slide her simple gown up her back, and she sat up, helping him remove it. Once she was bare, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from suckling at each nipple and kneading her breasts, purposely spreading his wings around her, before returning to her lower body. Rey gasped when he lifted her thighs and settled her legs over his shoulders, her muscles clenching against his head when he finally went back to lapping at her aching center.

“Ben," she gasped, thinking he might want to know, he seemed to like hearing her every noise and cry of pleasure. “That feels - I -” she dug her heels into his shoulders, lifting herself slightly, and the change in angle evoked a cry that was nearly a scream. Pleasure rolled through her, silken and warm and delicious, and for a moment all she could do was sob his name, slowly decreasing from tremulous cries to calmer, languid whispers. Boneless and still shaking slightly, she tugged on his hair, her hand slipping over skin and feathers lazily as he crawled up to her.

She made a sort of hesitant noise when he went in to kiss her, and he laughed, wiping his mouth with the corner of the bedsheets before he gave her a quick, chaste peck.

“I like your taste, actually. It’s much better than -”

“Than yours?" She giggled, drawing him down for a deeper kiss and sliding her tongue over his. She shrugged. “It’s not awful, but I still don’t care for it much. I think it’s more… the idea. It’s so…”

“Vulgar?” She rolled her eyes. He did seem to like making jokes at her expense, but having met Jykatha and Jaina, she understood his intentions weren’t to be cruel.

“Yes, it is, but you know very well I do not mind things simply because they’re vulgar.” She pushed him back with one hand, crawling up onto her knees. “Or else I wouldn’t do what I am about to do."

"Are you sure you feel well enough?” His eyes were dark with desire, but he searched her anyway, one hand resting over hers as she reached to unfasten his trousers.

“Yes," she said eagerly. “Trust me, my lord, it is better to do… something… than to just lie still. If I cannot sleep, I can think of nothing more delightfully distracting.”

“Is that what I am? A distraction?”

Rey kept her annoyed look for the troublesome laces of his pants, which she finally managed to sort out with no help from Ben.

“No, of course not. You have very useful anesthetic properties as well.” Rey dared a cheeky grin up at him before seizing the waist of his trousers. She shoved them down along with his underclothes, and his wings fluttered out frantically for balance when she immediately slipped her mouth over his waiting member.

“Gods, woman!” He dropped his hands to her shoulders, gently holding her still while he reoriented himself. “Sorry, I - Next time warn me - I - Oh -”

Saints blessing, he was silent after that, or at least the sounds that came from him were mostly wordless, with some nonsense praise for her beauty and her soft mouth. Rey gripped the rest of him in her hands, working them up and down to cover where her mouth couldn’t fit, and all too soon he was groaning and shaking and thrusting against her, and she whimpered in response, her own pleasure rekindled by the force of his response. She felt herself pressing her thighs together, and before she realized it, she was working one hand between her legs, her eyes closed, letting him push further into her mouth than she had before.

She gasped when his hands gripped her shoulders, pushing her back, and she watched with wild eyes as he spent himself over her skin. He gazed down at her in wonder, eyes taking in the way her hand was caught between her thighs, her glassy-eyed look of need.

“Are you -?"

"Yes. You sound so lovely, I must admit I cannot seem to control myself -”

“Don’t apologize." He sucked in a breath, reaching down to take over from her. “You weren’t lying, you really do like that.”

“Why would I… lie..." she closed her eyes, moaning under his touch, her legs falling wide.

Somehow this felt illicit,  _ more _ than even having him inside of her, and something in her liked that sense of impropriety, revelling in these acts that were quite probably unbecoming of a princess. He moved his hand for a moment, and when he returned it felt different, and she opened her eyes a crack to see he had dragged his fingers through his own spill and was rubbing it into her.

“Oh," she groaned, unable to hide how aroused she was by the idea that he was smearing his fluid into her most intimate places. “Ben,  _ Ben _ !"

"You like that?  _ Fuck _ , Princess!” He rubbed harder, his hand almost painful now, but she wasn’t there yet, she needed something else, and she threw her head back, her hips moving feverishly against his hand.

“Oh, gods.” She closed her eyes, her brow creased with effort. "I beg you… put your mouth on me somewhere, please!"

His lips closed over her nipple, sucking hard enough to hurt, and finally when he caught it between his teeth she crested, gasping his name with her hand fisted in his hair.

When she could breathe again, when they could both breathe, he helped her to the wash basin to clean up while he went into her sitting room and brewed another cup of the tea the dryad had left her. Bathed and reclothed, Rey wrapped her robe over her sheer nightgown and padded out into the private living room she had only seen the faintest glimpse of.

It was beautiful, black-veined white marble covered in furs and soft carpets made the flooring, while a divan and two plush, dark blue armchairs were arranged before the towering fireplace. To the right of the fireplace a heavy wooden door led into the exterior sitting room, where she could entertain guests if she liked, left mostly undecorated save for a table and a few chairs and the door leading into the rest of the massive castle. To the left was a smaller door into the servants quarters where Rose would stay, and Rey was surprised to see how well-appointed they were, with a fine, wide bed and separate sitting and dressing rooms as well as a dumbwaiter and a door that opened directly onto a stairwell into the royal family’s servant hall.

“This is lovely," she said once she’d finished investigating the entire suite. “I never minded sharing my bed, but Rose will be so happy to have her own, and she can have her own guests and a closet separate from mine!”

Ben chuckled, watching her unlatch the balcony door and poke her head out to take in the view, noting the long, wide platform and the sheltered nook where a table and chairs were set out under the roof, shielded from the wind on three sides by the angle of the castle wall and a well-placed iron screen. It was too cold to go out now, but she could imagine it would be a lovely place to have breakfast with her husband after he’d spent the night in her bed chamber.

“Where are you?" She asked, turning to him. He smiled and led her back into the bedroom, tea in hand, to the balcony’s other door.

“It goes all the way around,” he explained, directing her gaze to where the gilded railing curved around the tower. “There’s a little slope and then another door. Convenient if you ever get lonely at night, or if we want to pass the hour together.”

His eyes sparkled with amusement at her blush, and he reached around her and closed the door, wrapping her cold arms in his warm embrace.

“Don’t worry, there is a lock on both doors."

"Why on earth would it need a lock?” She mused, taking the cup from his hand and settling herself on the bed. Now that the sacred hour was nearly over and she had occupied herself as best she could, she could feel the familiar anxiety gripping her chest, the particularly disgusting sensation of being smothered by her own skin.

“Well, no married couple is without their differences. It may not seem possible now, but…” He shrugged. “My mother has been known to indicate her displeasure with the King by having the locks changed on her rooms while he was away.”

Rey swallowed more of the tea, studying him as he stood over her, waiting to take the cup and help her settle into bed. “Your father is away lot."

"Yes. I do believe they love each other, but…”

“Your mother drinks too much and your father leaves her alone too often." She stole a glance up again, gathering her courage to finish her thought. “And you’re caught in between."

Her fiance sighed, taking her empty cup and climbing into the bed behind her so he could hold her against his chest, his body forming a solid barrier all around her.

“We may fight, Ben, I can’t tell the future." She leaned back, wanting to see his eyes, and he peered down into her gaze with a somber expression. “But I swear to you - yes, I know I am bound by my own magic, I do not swear lightly -” she snapped as he started to put a finger over her lips. “I want this marriage to work more than I can ever remember wanting anything in my entire life. So I  _ swear to you _ , so long as you are my husband and faithful to me as your wife and queen, I will not lock you out of my rooms.”

She sighed at the warmth of the magic flowing between them, lulled by the medicine and Ben’s embrace and the singing of her own blood, not even aware of herself nodding off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... wasn't Ahsoka supposed to visit during the sacred hour?.... Hmmmm ;-)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You are going to be so powerful, my little witchling! The magic lives inside you, it will always be there, even when I’m not.”
> 
> The witchlight had a warmth to it, not hot like fire, but a cozy, comforting feeling, and it smelled of snow and moonlit nights. She folded herself around its warmth as much as she could, basking in her mother’s approval. 
> 
> “Don’t forget, sweet little Reyna. All of this - our family, our kingdom, our magic - it all lives inside of you, just as it lives inside of me, and your grandmother before me, and her mother before… all the way back to St. Bastila.”

It was the lack of warmth that woke her - that and the metallic scent of a strange magic sweeping over her. She blinked a few times at the figure leaning over her. The features seemed so familiar, but the delicately-pronged horns sprouting from silvery plaited hair threw her off. The bronze-skinned hand over her forehead bore a white focus jewel, and all of the pieces suddenly clicked.

“Master Tano!" She breathed, unable to fully conceal her excitement at meeting the famous sorceress. The lamia smiled, her golden lips the same shape and fullness of her daughter’s.

“Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. May I sit?” She glanced at the side of the bed, and Rey quickly patted the mattress beside her.

“Please! This bed is so monstrous, without Ben I’m afraid I might be lost in it!”

"Ahhh, I see. So that’s what all the screaming was about last night." Rey frowned, and Ahsoka gave her a conspiratorial wink. "I believe your eager fiance was a tad forgetful last night. He asked me to look in on you during the sacred hour.”

"Oh!” Her cheeks were surely scarlet, but the elder faerie did not seem even slightly scandalized. “It wasn’t… I mean, I’ve asked him to wait until… It was just touching and...kissing…” She gave up under the weight of Ahsoka’s bemused serpentine eyes and covered her face with her hands.

“I do not report to Leia, child,” she said dismissively. “I myself am thrilled to find you enjoy each other so much, I have not seen our prince this animated since he returned from battling the First Order armada.”

Rey sat forward so quickly she almost knocked Ahsoka backwards. “Ben was in a battle?"

“It was far from one battle, Princess,” a familiar voice sounded from across the room. "Those mercenaries are brutal, they tore the Kashyyyk navy to shreds. If Amilyn and Ben Solo hadn’t swooped in just in time, the entire Wroshyrwood would be cut down or in smoldering ashes. As it is, hundreds of grimalkin lost their homes - and lives.”

"Jacen, I warned you to behave. Don’t make me carry out my earlier threats.” Master Tano glared crossly at both them, and the seraph shut his mouth with a grim “fine."

“The Wroshyrwood is precious," Rey murmured, her face overcome with shock. "Who would do such a horrific thing?"

After Ahsoka’s sharp rebuke, the seraph was silent, but his crossed arms and disgusted huff were really all the answer Rey need. Coruscant - her father - had been importing loads of it to fuel his cold iron forges. With a sigh that mimicked Jacen’s, she shut her eyes and clenched her fists on her thighs.

“That monster. They’re using it to forge cold iron for Kreia’s soldiers. I should have known. He could never acquire that much in any decent manner.” She hung her head, but her voice was steeled. "Snoke and Kreia _will_ answer for what they’ve done. I will bring retribution and liberate my kingdom, or I will die trying."

Ahsoka and Jacen shared a look that Rey couldn’t quite follow, and abruptly, she realized Ben was gone and she was in her bedclothes surrounded by strangers.

“How are you feeling, Rey?" Ahsoka attempted to redirect the conversation. She turned her focus back to the premier sorceress and tried to assess her mental and physical well-being.

“Well enough, I think, although I should like to bathe and dress more appropriately if I am to receive visitors.” She latched onto Ahsoka’s gaze firmly. "I would be greatly indebted if you would stay, Master. There is much I would discuss with you, if you have the time.”

"For you, child? I have all the time in the world." She jerked her antlered head at Jacen Syndulla. “However, I believe you are owed an apology."

Rey peered at the handsome, arrogant seraph, standing by the balcony door as if he might need to flee at any moment. Jykatha and Ahsoka trusted him. She actually enjoyed the time she’d spent in the company of his sister. And he was Ben Solo’s best friend.

So why did she feel like there was such an aura of animosity between them already? Should she capitulate, pretend at a kindness she didn’t feel and wave away any apology from him as unnecessary? Somehow, Rey sensed that would be the wrong response, although it appeared to be what Ahsoka expected.

“I will accept Lord Syndulla’s apology when I am clothed and able to receive visitors as befits my station,” she pronounced, watching his eyes react to her cold demeanor. Ahsoka herself seemed surprised, but she did not interfere. “I am sure Queen Leia does not meet with supplicants in her bedchamber."

Lord Syndulla only raised an eyebrow and bowed not an inch lower than their stations dictated. “Very well, I know a dismissal when I hear one. I shall call upon you again when you give leave to do so, Your Majesty.”

He left through the balcony door in the bedroom, and Rey had to fight the urge to lock it behind him. Why was he even allowed to violate her bed chambers in the first place? Surely it was terribly improper. Ben would hear her displeasure at it as soon as she could get him alone, wherever he had gone off to before she woke, she knew he would be back. Or perhaps… Her eyes studied the balcony distractedly. Perhaps she would go to him this evening, if he didn’t come to her before then.

“Your Highness?" Ahsoka’s low voice commanded her attention and she turned quickly.

“Yes, Master Ahsoka, my apologies." She sat up on the edge of her bed while Ahsoka rang the bell for a servant. “Oh, I will be so grateful to see Rose again! She has always been too good to me.”

"Rose is your maidservant?”

"Yes, and my best friend. I suppose she’s on her way to Ren now, I hope the journey isn’t too harsh for her.” She frowned, feeling a rush of guilt that Rose would have to make the arduous journey alone while she had her fiance’s strong arms and soft wings to comfort her.

“You care deeply for her," Ahsoka observed. “Such concern for a servant is unusual, especially in a sidhe princess."

Rey frowned at that, but before she could ask, there was a soft knock at the door, and the lamia rose to answer it, ushering in a short, round-bellied boggan woman covered in fiery curls of hair from her head to the middle of her stomach. Only her sparkling black eyes peeked out from amidst the hair and beard, but they shone with a keen intelligence.

“Your Highness, this is BeeBee, she will be waiting on you until your lady arrives, if that’s acceptable?” Ahsoka looked relieved when Rey smiled, rising to greet the young woman.

“Of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you, BeeBee, please call me Rey - Lady Rey, if you must.”

"Oh, sure, Lady Rey! The pleasure is mine!” She was carrying an armful of towels and soap, but she gave Rey her best attempt at a bow anyway, toppling the pile of rose-scented bath supplies from her arms. BeeBee squeaked in embarrassment as Ahsoka bent to help her clean up. “So sorry, mistress! And thank you, Lady Ahsoka! Now let’s get that bath started for you, shall we?”

"Please,” Rey nodded. "I’m afraid I don’t remember what happened to the gown Jaina loaned to me -"

"Don’t you worry about that! Bariss and Threepio put together a bit of a wardrobe while you were resting. Rubbish mostly, if you want my opinion, but there are a few gems we can pin up quickly,” she chattered on as she moved about the bathing chamber, much to Rey and Ahsoka’s amusement. The palace had some mysteriously ingenious way of transporting and heating water, and Rey was infinitely curious, but she hadn’t had a spare moment to ask. She opened her mouth to question Ahsoka, only to be interrupted.

“How much do you know about sorcery, Rey? Have you had any training at all?”

She blinked, swallowing the sudden clutch of panic in her throat, and tried to answer honestly. “Not very much. I can do the basic exercises my mother taught me, meditation, the trance state. And I can feel and… smell and taste magic when it’s around me. When I was younger, I could enchant glow stones and summon witchlights, but since… since the assault, I’ve never tried it.”

"Hmm. Could you try it now, while we wait for your bath to heat?" Rey blushed and fidgeted with the signet ring on her finger, inhaling in surprise at the touch of the lamia’s blunted claws on her bare shoulder. Ahsoka peered at her, eyes warm with kindness. “Just humor me. I need to see how you reach out to your magic.”

Rey nodded, closing her eyes and slipping into the familiar rhythmic breathing she had practiced as a child. She pictured her mother, her slender hands cupped around Rey’s much smaller ones as she encouraged her daughter to summon her very first tiny ball of light. A faint smile crossed her lips as she recalled how thrilled she had been, how Queen Kira had hugged her and kissed her and whispered her nickname.

_“You are going to be so powerful, my little witchling! The magic lives inside you, it will always be there, even when I’m not.”_

_The witchlight had a warmth to it, not hot like fire, but a cozy, comforting feeling, and it smelled of snow and moonlit nights. She folded herself around its warmth as much as she could, basking in her mother’s approval._

_“Don’t forget, sweet little Reyna. All of this - our family, our kingdom, our magic - it all lives inside of you, just as it lives inside of me, and your grandmother before me, and her mother before… all the way back to St. Bastilla.”_

A noise, just a soft intake of surprise, startled Rey from her memories, and she opened her eyes to see BeeBee staring at her cupped hands resting in her lap. She glanced up to see a glimmer of interest crack Ahsoka’s calm exterior.

“You _do_ have the magic!" Her new servant exclaimed. She beamed up at Rey, her eyes crinkled and cheeks round with excitement, and the princess decided then that she liked the boggan girl very much.

“I made a witchlight?" She asked Ahsoka tentatively.

"Yes.” She paused, looking away in contemplation. “Do you read well, Lady Rey?"

“Oh, yes, it is one of my fondest hobbies!” She climbed to her feet and searched around the room until she found her traveling satchel. Gently, she retrieved her most treasured possessions and brought them to show Ahsoka. “I stole them from the hidden part of the library," she explained. "I suppose it isn’t stealing if the castle and everything in it is rightfully mine, but my father and step-mother did their best to keep things from me. This one is just a history of the Shan dynasty, it’s boring, but it was all I had to link me to my ancestors. This is a primer on sorcery written by St. Obi-wan. I’m sure you know how it came to be in my mother’s possession. And this is a book of the history of the fae, from the Old Republic to the rise of the Dark Lords.”

Taking great care, because they were old and worn from years of rereading, the realm’s premier sorceress examined Rey’s books with a trace of wonder in her glittering serpentine eyes. Even BeeBee watched in enraptured silence. Finally, Ahsoka stacked them gently on top of each other and handed them back to Rey.

“I would like to bring you some more books, and I want you to study them as you’ve studied these,” she said, laying her hand over Rey’s atop to books. "I know Leia and Ben will make demands on your time, but you must decide which is more important to you - serving your fiance’s family or claiming your birthright. I won’t lie, trying to ascend when you’ve had so little training will be difficult, but as they say, ‘the greater the risk, the better the reward.’”

She held Rey’s eyes until she nodded firmly, the decision already made in her mind. She loved Ben, and she was grateful to Leia, but this was who she was meant to be. Her prince, she believed, would stand at her side. She did not know about his mother, a sidhe who had forgone magic herself, but if Leia wanted her cooperation in her political maneuvering, she had little choice but to accept that Rey would be a sorceress first, and a princess when there was time left over.

“I _will_ do this, Master. I must."

Ahsoka nodded solemnly, clasping Rey’s shoulder firmly before turning to leave the room. She paused at the doorway, turning back with a slight tilt of her head.

“Would it be possible to have copies made of those books for the library here? You needn’t loan them out, I will assign someone to come and copy them here.”

"Of course!” Rey was all too eager to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, a trait her mother and Uncle Lando had instilled in her as a child. Ahsoka seemed to understand how loathe she would be to part with them, and she appreciated her solution of sending someone to copy them under Rey’s supervision. “Send your scribe with the texts you wish me to read and they can copy while I attend to my studies in the afternoon and evening.”

"I will." A faint glimmer of mischief played out over the lamia’s sharp features, her full lips twitching slightly at some private amusement. “Remember to focus, Princess. At the end of the week, you will face your first Trial with Master Luke.”

"Luke?!” She couldn’t mean - Luke Skywalker, Mara’s betrothed? - the one who had - who was there when - Rey’s anguish must have shown on her face, because Ahsoka’s expression softened.

“Lady Rey, I know it’s hard for you, but perhaps you’d feel more at ease if you met with Master Skywalker beforehand?”

Would it? Did she want to see him, now that her memories seemed to be returning with more detail every day? What if she had another spell? _Better to have it before when my ascension isn’t at stake._

“Yes." She cleared her throat from the harsh whisper. “I will meet with Master Skywalker at his convenience."

Ahsoka’s pupils narrowed to thin slits as her gaze swept over Rey, standing beside her bed with her fists clenched and her chin set firmly, and nodded.

“I left a bottle of nerve tonic in your dressing room. One spoonful with a cup of water twice a day should help keep you steady, and you needn’t fear, there is nothing of opium or alcohol involved, just condensed oils and my own magic.”

"Thank you, Master Ahsoka.”

"Nevermind, child. Healing is a part of sorcery. You can thank me by studying.”

"I will,” she said again, firmly.

"I hope so. I shall let Luke know you’re open to a visit.” She paused, as if she were going to add more, but instead shook her head and departed.

“Ready for your bath, Princess?” BeeBee said brightly, and Rey turned her smile on the round-faced maidservant. “Don’t you worry, we’ll get you scrubbed and presentable and you can meet your betrothed for luncheon when he returns from his training.”

"Training?" She stood still as the little boggan undressed her and brushed out her hair, listening to her light-hearted chatter.

“Oh, yes, the Prince rises at dawn every morning to train with the other knights. I believe he is working with Lady Jykatha and Lord Wexley this morning.”

"I see. And what does he do the rest of the day?”

Rey found herself indulging in a little satisfied smile as the servant continued chattering about Ben, his family and the knights of the Queen’s Guard, as well as a plethora of other courtiers and palace nobles.

  



	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Alright then, Lady Rey. Promise not to tell where you heard it from?” At Rey’s nod, she leaned forward and spoke in a loud whisper. "When he’s not practicing with Master Luke or Ahsoka or training with his knights, or tending his courtly duties, the Prince has been known to write poetry.”
> 
> "What? My Ben -” She paused, thoughtfully nibbling the inside of her lip, avoiding BeeBee’s careful makeup job. “Actually, I find that less surprising than you might think.” She grinned at the servant’s chuckle, and BeeBee squeezed her hand.
> 
> “There’s more," she offered. Rey bowed her head down again, her ears tilting towards the maidservant. “He writes his poems in the most beautiful calligraphy. The Queen even had one of his pieces framed to hang over her private fireplace.”

By the time she was bathed, dressed and robed, her hair pulled back in the simple, three-bobbed plait she preferred, with a little string of pearls arranged over her forehead and earrings to match completing the look, she had acquired a wealth of information. Rey almost felt as if she ought to begin taking notes, and she asked BeeBee if she might know where pens and a notebook could be acquired.

“I can have some brought for you, my lady, but if I may make a suggestion?” There was a glint in the short woman’s crinkled eyes that sparked Rey’s curiosity.

“Please, you needn’t be afraid to speak your mind to me. I consider my lady Rose to be my closest friend, and I’d absolutely enjoy being your friend as well.” She caught the other faerie’s hand and clasped it warmly, rewarded with the boggan’s honest laughter.

“Alright then, Lady Rey. Promise not to tell where you heard it from?” At Rey’s nod, she leaned forward and spoke in a loud whisper. "When he’s not practicing with Master Luke or Ahsoka or training with his knights, or tending his courtly duties, the Prince has been known to write poetry.”

"What? _My_ Ben -” She paused, thoughtfully nibbling the inside of her lip, avoiding BeeBee’s careful makeup job. “Actually, I find that less surprising than you might think.” She grinned at the servant’s chuckle, and BeeBee squeezed her hand.

“There’s more," she offered. Rey bowed her head down again, her ears tilting towards the maidservant. “He writes his poems in the most beautiful calligraphy. The Queen even had one of his pieces framed to hang over her private fireplace.”

"Hmm. He must have a fine stock of writing implements and parchment if he puts such effort into his hobby,” Rey mused, catching the boggan’s excited little nod. “Perhaps you ought to wait a bit before ordering supplies for me, then.”

BeeBee giggled, and Rey got to her feet as the maid scrambled around, making last-minute arrangements to her dress and hair while she studied herself in the mirror. It was somewhat finer than her usual day wear, but the maid insisted it was befitting a princess, and she understood the importance of dressing for her station. The gray silk gown was paired with a deep blue bodice of softest velvet to match the delicate embroidery of stars and phases of the moon at the hem and quarter sleeves. It was buttoned in the back instead of laced, the neckline plunged slightly further than Rey was comfortable with, and she feared how the lovely ensemble would fare against Ben Solo’s impatient hunger.

“Shall I paint your face, my lady? Or do you prefer to do it yourself?" Her maid had opened a drawer at her dressing table, filled with various powders and cosmetics, and Rey peered at it, frowning.

“I suppose… Nothing dramatic. Maybe just a little dusting of powder and a touch of lip stain?” She really had never done much makeup, only using it over her nose and cheeks when her stepsisters started teasing about her smattering of freckles. She had liked the dramatic look of her lips when Jykatha painted them, but she was afraid to do too much, so she agreed to let BeeBee take over.

“Your eyes are really lovely, Lady Rey, are you sure you wouldn’t like just a bit of kohl on your lashes?” She suggested, as Rey held up the hand mirror to examine her work. She had done exactly as instructed and not a touch more, making the princess more confident in her abilities.

“Just a touch," she agreed finally. She was curious to see if it really made a difference, and holding up the mirror afterwards, she found herself pleasantly surprised.

“Well done. Thank you so much, BeeBee!" She smiled as she laid down the mirror, rising to her feet with care for her long skirts.

“You like it? Truly?" The little woman’s mop of curls bobbed excitedly as she surveyed Rey from all sides, and she beamed under the praise.

“Yes. Now, let me see… What time is it?” She glanced around for a timekeeper, and found a water clock resting on the mantle above her bedroom hearth. “Is that correct? It’s after midday already?"

"I believe so. Shall I call for luncheon, my lady? I can have it brought out to the porch if you wish, it’s the perfect time of day to enjoy a bit of fresh air.”

“Please do," Rey agreed. “And let my fiance know I would be pleased if he has the time to join me, but I do not expect it.”

She gathered the books laid beside her bed that she had shown to Ahsoka and found herself instinctively seeking a safe place to hide them. Then she recalled there was an entire shelf of books in the sitting room on the otherside of her bedchamber, and took herself out there to examine them in the daylight pouring through the open curtains while BeeBee attended her errands.

They were mostly the sort of boring books found in her father’s library, historical battles, descriptions and illustrations of the flora and fauna of various places, famous romantic novels and poetry… She would have to ask BeeBee or Rose to catalgoue them at some point, so she could keep the ones she liked and make room for other books according to her preferences. She had a feeling Ahsoka would be piling them up as quickly as she could make room. In the meantime, she found a secure place on the second shelf to hide her relics between two volumes of astrological theory, and selected a small, but promising book of poetry to read while she ate. It was a lovely day, the maid had been right about enjoying the fresh air, and when the meal came it was a lovely assortment of sandwiches and teacakes, light but filling enough to suit her after her long night of convalescing.

“ _Mirrorbright_. One of my favorites." The low feminine voice was the last person she expected to hear approaching, and Rey started in surprise, losing her place in the book. Across from her, Queen Leia placed a bejeweled hand over an empty chair. “I understand why you might crave solitude, but permit me a moment, please, Your Grace.”

Eyes wide, Rey could only nod, hoping she didn’t have crumbs on her fingers or face and regretting her decision to do without caf or strong tea.

“Your Majesty. Of course, please, be welcome. I apologize, I have only jasmine tea and watered wine to offer. Lady Ahsoka and Lady Kalonia recommended against strong stimulants and I was not expecting to be graced with your company -”

The Queen waved away her attempts at apology, settling herself at the table with the aid of her slim cane. “Please. I know my presence here is a surprise, because I meant it to be. Rey, you and I need to speak privately, and the only way I could think of to do that was to catch you like this. It is you who are due my deepest apologies and not the other way around.”

Rey was struck silent, staring at the queen with what she hoped _wasn’t_ an expression of the complete terror she felt seeping into her bones.

“Oh," she managed weakly. “I see."

“Do you?" Leia studied her from across the table, wise eyes the same shade as her beloved’s but somehow closed, giving away nothing while Ben’s eyes might as well have shouted his every thought.

“I am not without knowledge of the noble court, Your Majesty," she said, quickly regaining her composure after a sip of tea. “If you or I had extended an invitation, there would be a dozen servants at every door, finding a reason to stoke the fire or adjust the curtains or refresh our tea. By coming alone and unannounced, you ensure there are fewer eyes and ears about us.”

“Hmm. You’re just as sharp as I could have hoped." The Queen helped herself to a small macaroon, pausing to let it melt in her mouth and dust off her fingers on a napkin before continuing. “Tell me, Lady Reyna. Have you considered our motivation for sending my one and only heir into direct danger just to free you?”

“Yes," Rey replied with honesty. “I have already gathered that, as noble as I find him to be, Ben is a controversial figure here because of his heritage - _your_ heritage, in particular, Your Majesty, although I assume there are those who aren’t thrilled to sea a pirate’s son elevated in such a way either. It has also occurred to me that your son is far past the age where a suitable marriage should have been arranged, leading me to suspect your family has been planning this arrangement for a long time. Perhaps as long as I have been alive. My mother was an excellent politician before she became ill, and Uncle Lando and she were very close before she passed away.”

She paused to take a bite of a little triangle of sandwich, noting how the Queen’s eyes followed her movements as she sipped more tea to wash it down. She raised her eyes to meet Leia’s.

“Furthermore, it was made apparent to me this morning by Lord Syndulla that my father has been pillaging the Wroshyrwood, and knowing what I do of Snoke and Kreia’s cunning, I believe your situation in this war is far more fragile than your subjects are aware.” Rey noted the flicker of something in Leia’s eyes, an emotion quickly suppressed before she could pry at it, but the Queen’s interest was obvious by the way she leaned inward, gripping the head of her cane with white knuckles. “This wasn’t just a daring rescue mission. You need me to turn the tide against Snoke. I imagine for every ally like Cloud City and Ren, you have others who sit still with one foot on each side of the wall, and it is past the time for choosing sides. My marriage to Ben will draw out those willing to support my claim, if not yours, and also make clear those who have no intention of taking part.”

“Saints be praised!" The Queen exclaimed finally, hand hovering over her heart. “I heard from Lando and Luke, but still I feared you would be inept in some way. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you speak so eloquently, child. Although I am concerned about one thing.”

Rey arched an eyebrow, waiting on Leia to compose her words. She caught the younger sidhe’s eyes and held them in a fierce show of will. “If you have managed to piece all of this together, what is to stop you from having already sold us out to your father? Perhaps you’ve ensorceled our prince -”

She stopped at Rey’s scarcely-concealed laughter.

“I apologize, Your Majesty, but I find that idea quite absurd. Your son bears an onyx focus jewel. In the entirety of the Realms, how many have been so gifted?” She shook her head. “One cannot lie to a seraphim at any rate. No, Your Majesty, I swear to you -” Leia’s eyebrows crept up almost to her hairline, and Rey smiled briefly at the recognition of their combined magics - “I am in love with your son. I am not even certain ‘love’ is the proper word. However you wish to call it, I feel for him more strongly than anyone I have ever cared for in my entire short life, and I do not expect it to change at any time in the future. Regardless of why, he rescued me, he most likely saved my life, and for that I owe him the rest of it. A debt I am quite happy to pay.”

The touch of Leia’s magic, testing her as she swore to the power of her affection, was cool and crisp, similar to her son’s but bright with the silvery-gold sidhe coloring. Rey smiled, her eyes closing briefly as it washed over her. Leia sat back in her chair, eyeing the young woman with surprise and contemplation. She steepled her fingers and pressed the tips to her lips, as Rey hid her expression behind a sip of her tea. Inwardly, she felt inordinately proud of herself, having proven her capacity and worth to the one woman whose alliance she truly needed.

“Perhaps I will take that cup of tea," the Queen said after a moment, allowing Rey to fill her a spare cup she had been saving in case Ben made an appearance. “Tell me, what do you know of your father and stepmother’s personal relationship?”

It seemed an odd question on the surface, but Rey smiled. She knew exactly what Leia’s quick mind had leapt to, and was more than happy to share every shred of knowledge and personal speculation she had to offer.

“My father is clever,  but vain. He overestimates his own cunning,” she began. "When my mother was alive he was gentle to her, but distant to the rest of the court, myself included. I believe Kreia became his mistress when my mother grew ill, and though I have no proof, I feel in my heart she had some part in her death. My father was away when Queen Kira died, injured in a military accident of some kind, I was told. It left him crippled and horribly scarred. Between accident and my mother's death he became utterly changed, angry and cruel, and I feared him as I never had before when he took control of the court. The officers of his army are loyal to him, I believe, mostly because he prefers to surround himself with dannan and shuns the noblese fae of our home. The rank and file soldiers come mostly from Peragus, and follow Kreia’s orders. And then, of course, there is General Hux…”


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her hands settled on the leather cord of her medallion, and after one final peek to ensure the curtain was closed, she drew it over her head. Poe nearly yelled in surprise, managing just in time to stuff his fist in his mouth instead. What had been neatly-tied buns of ink-black hair framing her face had morphed into pointed, slim ears like a deer or a gryph, covered in black fur that faded to silver along the edge, and though her expression never changed, now she was glaring at him from narrowed, pupil-less eyes that glowed a faint silver-gold hue in the shadowed wagon. The fingers clutched around her necklace ended in neat, trimmed claws suggestive of a lion or a dragon, with a hint of silvery scales leading down her wrists. But Poe hardly registered the other changes, fire flaring in the embers of his eyes as they caught on the shining, delicately curled ebony horn emerging like a beacon of purity from her brow.
> 
> “You’re -"
> 
> "Shut up! Don’t give it voice, you idiot! Words have power.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be one chapter, but of course after three days of agonizing over it, I ended up breaking it up. I highly recommend reading the next two chapters, but if you're just here for the Reylo and not interested in Finn/Rose/Poe, you'll want to pick back up at chapter 17.

Poe Dameron, spy, agent provocateur, Knight and Lieutenant-Captain of the Queen’s Guard, had never faced such a strange quest. The lady’s maid rode her own horse, despite the Fomori guards’ attempts to sequester her in the wagon, and he could tell very early on that her personality posed the greatest risk to their plan. Obviously, had Finn actually taken her place as he was supposed to, there would have been no stubborn insistence on riding her own mount, taking the quicker but more difficult route through the Low Country, or leaving the heavier wagons to separate at the river crossing.

Fortunately for them both, the Fomori were not very bright, and though her actions and arguing confused them, Poe was able to convince the rest of the guards to follow her orders simply by complying with them himself. Now if he could just manage to convince the whole party to agree to an early stop, they might manage to let Finn and Lady Bazine catch up and give the entire quest a chance at success. He was pretty sure he had the other guards fully under his sway at this point, but getting Lady Rose to listen without giving himself away was going to be a problem.

The horses of the other ten guardsmen were the sort of dull, easily-herded beasts one would most often find before a plow, but his mount and the maidservant’s were cut from a different stock. Rose’s chesnut palfrey was as well-trained as she was lovely, and he really hated to see such a fine beast injured, so he decided his victim of circumstance would have to be Finn’s old charger. It still hurt him to cause harm to the sturdy creature, but in the scheme of things, it was the least of the evils he had to choose from.

The touch of fire on the beast’s rear leg was enough to make it spook, and he murmured his apologies as he wrenched his mount’s rein, causing it to lose its already precarious balance. He had intended to throw himself from the saddle in the opposite direction, but didn’t quite manage to avoid the poor creature as it thrashed about in pain. Under the full weight of the horse’s iron-shod hoof, the bones of his shin cracked audibly, and Poe hissed in agony at the touch of cold iron through his armor.

He couldn’t make much sense of the clamor around him as he struggled desperately to crawl free of his injured mount, but he heard Rose’s clear shout for a halt and her arguing with the stubborn, dumb Fomorian guardsman at their lead. She must have convinced them, however, as he was suddenly aware of an airy, feminine scent around him and the shock of cold dannan hands over his gloves.

“Are you well, sir?" She glanced behind her when he shook his head, gesturing to two of the fomori closest. “Come on, help him up. Can’t you see his armor’s been trod on? Mindless beasts.” She rolled her eyes, and for a moment Poe caught the ghost of curiosity in her piercing stare as the guards she’d indicated tried to get him to his feet.

Try as he might, the leg wouldn’t hold him, and he wanted very much to remove his helmet as the natural heat of his body trying to heal itself was suffocating. But he could not reveal himself just yet. Instead, he gestured at his mount, now back to its feet although the poor thing was clearly permanently lamed, and then towards his dented armor.

“Iron shoes," he muttered in a gruff approximation of Fomori speech. Rose nodded, glancing down with an unreadable expression before she turned her attention to the horse.

“We’ll have to put your mount down, I’m afraid." She bit her lip, clearly unhappy at the prospect, and Poe wondered not for the first time how this willful, intelligent woman had managed to survive Snoke and Kreia’s court. She took one of his arms from the guards without hesitation, and Poe stiffened, sure he’d be found out once Rose felt the heat of his body through the metal.

She gasped, quickly muffled, and shot him a look of surprise before schooling her features and directing the men to clear out room in the wagon. Soon Poe was resting comfortably amid Princess Reyna’s fine feather pillows while the rest of the guard made camp under Rose’s command. He listened as she directed one of the two bowmen to hand over his crossbow, nearly as shocked as the witless Fomori when she put down his mount herself before climbing into the covered cart beside him, drawing the curtain firmly.

“Who are you?" She demanded without preamble. “And what do you think you’re doing? You could have gotten us both killed! And that poor beast!”

“Ah, she was a fine mount," he agreed sadly. “But I needed the distraction!" He reached out swiftly, clutching her hand between his two gloved palms. “Listen, we don’t have a lot of time, Finn and Lady Bazine are coming to join us -”

“Finn?!" She stared at him wide-eyed, and then despite his efforts to fight her, reached down and nimbly yanked his helmet off. For a moment they stared at each other in shock, before Rose started to back away and accidentally brushed his injured leg.

“Ow!"

"Sorry! But I - you said - _Finn?_ Finn is dea-" He caught her hand again, shaking his head and whispering as fast as he could.

“No, he’s not, he asked me to help you.” He held her gaze desperately, willing her to believe him. “They ordered him to kill you and take your place, Princess Fazma told him and he and Bazine conspired -”

“Bazine! Why would she help me? She’s never cared for anyone but herself a day in her life!” She still looked angry as she whispered back, but at least he had her attention. “And you’re an ifreet! That’s why your armor was so hot!”

“My body is healing," he explained quickly. “Or trying to. I can heal most injuries if I get hot enough, but cold iron -”

“Right, of course." Rose frowned at him, idly bringing her hand up to fidget with the half-crescent medallion she wore around her neck. “Let’s see it then,” she said finally, as if coming to some kind of internal conclusion.

Carefully, she helped him remove the dented bronze and steel plate armor, stacking the pieces behind him in the wagon. When it was clear, she surveyed his wounded leg, eyes taking in the bruising that covered his olive skin, dark as soot where the iron horseshoe had broken through and scalded his flesh. The bone beneath was healing, he could feel that, but the flesh wound would leave a nasty scar, and possibly become a fatal poison if it had gotten into his lava-like blood.

Eventually, the young woman scrunched up her smoothly beautiful Otomok features with an expression of disgust that bordered on furious. “Well, I hope this story about Finn is true, because if I have to break my cover just for you -” She shook her head, stray black curls bobbing about her face. “We’ll just have to see what happens, I suppose.”

Her hands settled on the leather cord of her medallion, and after one final peek to ensure the curtain was closed, she drew it over her head. Poe nearly yelled in surprise, managing just in time to stuff his fist in his mouth instead. What had been neatly-tied buns of ink-black hair framing her face had morphed into pointed, slim ears like a deer or a gryph, covered in black fur that faded to silver along the edge, and though her expression never changed, now she was glaring at him from narrowed, pupil-less eyes that glowed a faint silver-gold hue in the shadowed wagon. The fingers clutched around her necklace ended in neat, trimmed claws suggestive of a lion or a dragon, with a hint of silvery scales leading down her wrists. But Poe hardly registered the other changes, fire flaring in the embers of his eyes as they caught on the shining, delicately curled ebony horn emerging like a beacon of purity from her brow.

“You’re -"

"Shut up! Don’t give it voice, you idiot! Words have power.” From over her shoulder, a fluff of silver-tipped tail twitched irritably, and Poe found his eyes drawn to it. Rose yanked her necklace back around her, and the vision was gone, replaced by the smooth-skinned, black-haired dannan, still regarding him with the same annoyed glower. “There. Now you know my secret. So will you trust me to help you? You’ll need witchflower otherwise, if that injury broke the skin.”

“I know." He was still staring at her in wonder. “I’m sorry, but how-?"

"Spells sealed with a living sacrifice. Unbreakable, even by Snoke, not that such as he knows aught of my kind. I’m surprised you do." She shook her head to ward off any more of his questions as she carefully prodded his injury with her fingertips and a warm cloth. “Tell me about Finn. How did you two meet?"

"I’m an agent for Leia Organa -”

“Obviously. Got caught out by General Hux, didn’t you?" She snorted, her fine features contored briefly into an expression of pure hatred. “I pray to the saints I am there to stand witness the day that man’s evils come back upon him. And believe me, they shall, if I must summon justice from the Heavens myself!”

"Yes, he is very much a vile creep. Shall we continue this delightful discussion of vengeance, or would you like me to go on with my story?" He questioned, cursing as her cloth dragged over a scratch of cut skin, his molten blood oozing out to sear the fabric. “Shit."

"Idiot,” she growled again. "Go on, finish the story before you die on me."

"I thought you were going to help!”

"I’ll try, but I can’t promise it will work, and there’s no witchflower in Coruscant.”

"But you’re -” Rose promptly covered his mouth with her hand. She waited, eyebrows raised, until his shoulders sagged in defeat. “You can’t purify it?"

“Not like this." She gestured to her common dannan guise. “And I will not risk the fate of the three kingdoms for a single soul." She rolled her eyes, unfolding an oilcloth of very uncomfortable-looking tools in her lap. “Now, go on, you were telling me about Finn," she snapped before he could frame the words to another question.

Poe snickered before he could help himself. “You’re gonna get along great with the ladies in New Alderaan -”

“Just finish the story!" And then, in a softer, more hesitant voice, she added: “You can tell me about New Alderaan… after we talk about Finn. I must reach them...” Absently, she lifted a hand to the center of her forehead and sighed. “I do not sense any danger, but I still wish I could have accompanied Rey. It happened so quickly, I was unprepared. And I only saw the prince so briefly, I wasn’t sure until...” She shook her head. “This has to work. If you double-cross me, if Rey is injured or killed... the wrath of my kind is legendary, and the legends do not give it justice.”

Poe glanced up, meeting her gaze once again, and something in his chest softened at the telltale gleam of wetness in her eyes. He laid a gloved hand on her shoulder and nodded. Of course, only a complete fool would risk the unmitigated wrath of a quillan fighting for or avenging their charge. He’d gone to see an opera as a child, an obscure retelling of the death of the last known quillan, Qui Gon Jinn, destroyed by a servant of the Dark Lords. With his dying breath, the sacred beast had cursed not the servant, but the master, and the Emperor’s death two decades later was as gruesome as the quillan had predicted, avenging all those who had suffered and died under the Emperor’s reign. It had come at the hands of the fallen Skywalker, Leia and Luke’s father, the black-winged seraph who had gifted his visage to his grandson. The story wasn’t well known, despite its historical significance, and Poe’s parents had insisted he attend for educational purposes.

Even acted out onstage, the combined vengence of a guardian seraph and a quillan’s curse had been frightful to watch. Poe had been uncomfortable around Ben Organa-Solo and his dark wings for years after he came to New Alderaan. And then he’d heard the whole story from Luke Skywalker himself, the man who had witnessed it all, watched his father sacrifice himself to save his son’s life, and the truth was even more disquieting. He tried to avoid any seraphim after that, they were far too serious and self-righteous for a man like Poe to bear, and he was not looking forward to meeting Queen Amilyn Holdo.

He really, really hoped Lady Rose was not going to turn out to be even more unbearable than the saintly winged fae. At least she seemed to appreciate a joke. He did his best to set her mind at ease, pushing aside his personal discomfort for the moment.

“I understand, Lady Rose. We’re not close, but I swear to you, Ben’s an honorable man. He is Luke Skywalker’s nephew and Anakin Skywalker’s grandson, you know. And the Queen can be a hard woman to read, but her compassion runs deep, as does her husband’s. They’ll be good to her." She sniffed, hurriedly looking away.

"My name is Poe, by the way. Poe Dameron, Lieutenant-Captain of Her Majesty’s Nightfall Squadron,” he offered into the silence. “And to go on where I left off, I infiltrated the court to help prepare the Prince’s rescue mission, but I got caught trying to escape after he absconded with the girl. Honestly, it caught me off guard the same as you, but I’m thankful for it now. The whole thing was meant to be a set up, Snoke plans to invade Ren in the coming months and he meant to frame the Prince for Lady Reyna’s murder.” He nodded darkly as her eyes grew wide. “They sent a patrol after them with orders to shoot Ben down on sight, and I was trying to catch up to them. Hux marched me back in chains, but at least Their Majesties got away safely.”

He met Rose’s eye and she nodded, confirming that the prince had indeed made it over the border. “Finn broke me out later when they were taking a break from questioning me. He took me to Princess Bazine’s rooms and we… switched places.”

“So they were going to kill her…” Rose shuddered. “How did Finn take your place? He’s just a -"

"He’s a Fomorian, actually. But a good one. At least, he seems to be. He said Fazma gave him the order to kill you and drink your heart’s blood so he could take your place at Princess Reyna’s side in New Alderaan,” he explained. “Which would never have worked, Queen Amilyn is a seraphine, not to mention Lord Ezra and Jacen guarding the palace walls in New Alderaan. But I guess Fazma and Hux aren’t that bright and Snoke is still furious that the princess made it out of Coruscant alive, so they’re grasping at straws.”

“That seems a fair assessment. Fazma’s not very bright, anyway. Hux is clever, but needs direction." She frowned. “If that was their plan… I was almost sure Kreia knew about me. The way she stared at me whenever I had to accompany Rey to court… But if she’d known, then she would have known Finn could’nt take my form. My blood would kill him faster than a sidhe. The Dark Queen would never make such a stupid miscalculation.”

Poe smirked. “No. She’d never have let me live so long if she knew I was there, either."

"This was all them. Fazma and Hux. I wonder if the Queen and King are quarreling, or if they’re just testing to see how their pawns act independently?” Rose frowned down at him in thought, successfully distracting him while she yanked tight the leather tourniquet she’d rigged up just below his knee.

“ _Motherfuck-"_

"My, my, such language.” The two in the wagon shared a startled glance, and Rose picked up a sharply-pointed tool from her oilcloth, noticing Poe’s hand tighten on the hilt of his sword. Carefully, she leaned forward and drew the curtain aside.

Princess Bazine blinked back at them in the fading light, wrapped in a heavy woolen cloak with the hood raised, her night-black tresses looking frizzy and out of sorts. Without the heavy powder and kohl and lipstain, she looked like an unpolished copy of herself. Calculating eyes fell on Poe’s injured shin and she pursed her lips in a thoughtful frown.

"Well, well. What happened here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are a dozen different spellings and appearances for the qilin or kirin or ky lan, but in this particular work of fiction "quillan" is pronounced 'ky lan' as in the Vietnamese version in honor of KMT.
> 
> Anyway, they are my favorite mythological creature and I could not resist putting one in my faerie kingdom. Also I love Rose Tico and wanted to give her a special part to play, and Kelly/Loan is such a pure, beautiful person I could easily imagine her as a gorgeous unicorn-dragon girl.
> 
> Man, writing this makes me really wish I could draw like... at all... but I can't even make stick figures, so if any of you wonderful artists out there feel inspired, please feel free to use any of my ideas. I can pay for comissions if you need to eat, too : ) Seriously, just throw something at me and demand money, I'm a sucker for pretty artwork and my best friend won't let me pay her even though her work is amazing and she lets me hang it in my house.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rose..." Finn had taken her hand, staring frankly at her nimble, taloned fingers. She tried to pull back, embarrassed, but he held her firmly and Rose gasped, shocked that his skin wasn’t burning at the touch of her true form.
> 
> “I know I am far from what you were expecting -" She shook her head a little, staring at where he held her hand. “I suppose you’re afraid of me now."
> 
> "No. I could never be afraid, Rose. You’re beautiful,” he whispered, awe manifest in the softness of his voice. As if to make sure she understood his meaning and intention, he let go of her hand and pulled her into a breathless hug, followed by an unexpected but exuberantly returned kiss.
> 
> Rose drew back suddenly, studying his face with an intense, searching expression. Surely that could not happen. For a Fomori to bear the touch and kiss of the sacred quillan? But everything seemed fine, even when she traced his lip with a silver-scaled knuckle to reassure herself he was really unhurt.

“Where’s Finn?" Rose snapped, ignoring the Princess's snide query. Bazine froze, her lips hung open for a moment in a round ‘o’ of shock at being addressed so informally by a servant. Movement behind her drew her attention, and Finn’s chocolate skin and warm eyes appeared through the opening in the curtain, drawing a sigh of relief from Rose and a confused noise from Poe.

For her part, the former servant girl shouted his name joyfully, abandoning the injured spy to climb out of the wagon and wrap her long-lost friend in a fierce hug.

“It’s really you! Poe told me you’re a Fomorian… I should have known, Paige never trusted you, but all I could sense was your kindness…” A hint of tears made her eyes watery, and she shook them away. “When they found the body in the river, on top of everything else, I cried for days. What happened? Why didn’t you come back to us?”

"I had to let go of the face I was using. It was Fazma who ordered me to befriend you in the beginning, and I was supposed to report to her, but I couldn’t anymore, not after what they did to Rey.” His voice grew hard. "I knew Snoke would find me and order me to be destroyed if I disobeyed, but I wanted to stay nearby in case… In case they went after someone else. Rose, I’m sorry about Paige. Believe me, if there was anything in my power to do-”

“I believe you." She snorted. “And you’re an idiot, you’d have only gotten killed along with her.”

“Why do you look like that?" Poe questioned suspiciously. “I thought you took my form… that was the whole point of the guise.”

“A powerful Fomori can permanently assume the shape of any form whose heart he has devoured. Drinking the blood only gives them the form for a few hours, but consuming a heart gives them access to it whenever they wish. Like a mental library, of sorts. Most just don’t have the brain capacity for much of a memory,” Bazine drawled out. "Finn here is exceptional in many ways. It’s unfortunate that he is technically my brother -”

“That’s disgusting," Finn grumbled. “Knock it off." He shot her a dark glare, blithely ignoring her responding pout to return his gaze to Rose. “Poe asked me my name when we met, and I said Finn because… it’s the only name I’ve ever had. And then, it was the strangest thing, but as we were coming up to your camp, I was trying to figure it out, how I would get you to recognize me when I don’t look the same and… See, Fomori only have names when they’re recognized. And it has to be someone important, it has to mean something from the person giving it. I figured it out after we parted ways, Poe called me Finn and he _meant_ it, and I thought it was him, and maybe it was a little, but then I realized… I was using that name long before, and when I took his heart, that boy in the stables, I didn’t just take his form, I took _part_ of him. Part of him that has never left me… “

“How adorably sentimental," the princess directed her commentary to Poe, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore her.

As he was speaking, Rose felt her initial excitement slipping away, and she drew back from his embrace. Her eyes took in the scene around them, the setting sun, the horses of the guardsmen grazing quietly in their picket line with her chestnut mare, the campfire crackling on the other side of the cart. The guards themselves were missing, and she had an uneasy feeling about what happened to them.

“Finn.” She interrupted with a hand on his chest. “Where are the other guards?"

He glanced around them, then frowned down at the horror slowly creeping over Rose’s beautiful face. “Well, we -"

"They’re dead, obviously,” Bazine said, as if she were speaking of throwing out yesterday’s scraps. “Finn killed them."

"Oh.” Rose gave herself a little shake, but refused to meet his anxious eyes, going back to sit on the edge of the wagon. “Of course. Of course you did."

"They would have killed us both if they found us out,” Poe reminded her, brushing her hand with his gloved one. She nodded, but twitched her hand away from his. “Rose, you’re not even supposed to be alive. Finn was ordered to _kill_ you.”

“I know. I know, it’s just-" She sniffled, and Princess Bazine gave a dismissive snort.

“Oh, get over it. They’re unformed Fomori. Just faceless monsters. Saints alive, little girl, how could you possibly think -” The _thwack_ of the back of Rose’s hand hitting the noblewoman’s cheek echoed hugely across the quiet scene. The Princess shrieked in surprise, clutching at the scalding mark it left on her skin.

“I’ll think what I want, you monster! There’s two of us" she jerked her head to indicate Poe and herself. "And two of you, and I don’t think Finn likes you very much. So I’ll be making the decisions from now on, and you can run home to mommy dearest if you don’t like it. Got it, little girl?”

“Two of you? But you’re -"

Rose twisted her medallion between her fingers, eyes following the glint of the metal in the firelight, and took a deep breath.

“You should know, Fomori, how appearances can be deceiving. I am more than I seem. And Poe’s an ifreet, and we are getting out of this cursed country.” She reached out towards Finn, beckoning him closer, until he stood just before her, his eyes firmly cast on the ground. “Finn, look at me."

When he finally managed it, Rose graced him with a warm smile, and his eyes lit with her own joy reflected back upon her. She lifted her necklace solemnly, eyeing Bazine and Finn both hesitantly. Finally, she sighed, appearing to resign herself to whatever decision she was making. Maybe it was a bit idealistic to have faith in a couple of Fomori and faerie spy, but Rose only knew she was tired of hiding. Quillan were born for a specific reason, to ensure the safety of an important destiny, and _her_ destiny was far too distant for her comfort.

“Finn. As it was gifted to me, so I gift you this medallion. Until you wish to be free of it, it will hold you permanently in your current form. It cannot be removed save by you or I, even in death, and no power of might or magic may break the spell. Do you accept?”

There were no special words to the quillan’s holy magic, but the spirit of the enchantment was already set. She was only moving it from one bearer to another, everything Rose knew about her own powers said it would work, but she whispered a prayer to the saints inwardly, just in case. Finn ducked his head to let her lower it over him.

“Yes. Yes, I accept, Rose -" He swallowed, the soft eyes she remembered from childhood holding hers, widening as the enchantment transferred from her to him and her own true form was revealed. “You - I didn’t know you were -"

"No one was supposed to know, you idiot.” She grinned, dropping the necklace over him. "There. Now you are truly _Finn_ until you or I say otherwise. The spells of the quillan change the very nature if those they touch. There is no higher magic, nothing in existence can hope to pierce it.” Rose gave herself a shake, a full-bodied shiver flowing over all of the parts of her that had been hidden for so long. She felt an urge to change, to gallop and prance about on all fours like she hadn’t since she and Paige were just formed, and the memory of her sister, so similar in form but opposite in color, sprang vividly to mind, forcing her to swallow around a swell of tears.

“Rose..." Finn had taken her hand, staring frankly at her nimble, taloned fingers. She tried to pull back, embarrassed, but he held her firmly and Rose gasped, shocked that his skin wasn’t burning at the touch of her true form.

“I know I am far from what you were expecting -" She shook her head a little, staring at where he held her hand. “I suppose you’re afraid of me now."

"No. I could never be afraid, Rose. You’re beautiful,” he whispered, awe manifest in the softness of his voice. As if to make sure she understood his meaning and intention, he let go of her hand and pulled her into a breathless hug, followed by an unexpected but exuberantly returned kiss.

Rose drew back suddenly, studying his face with an intense, searching expression. Surely that could not happen. For a Fomori to bear the touch and kiss of the sacred quillan? But everything seemed fine, even when she traced his lip with a silver-scaled knuckle to reassure herself he was really unhurt.

“This shouldn’t be possible. My magic - what I _am_ \- your skin should burn just to touch me.” She froze as his hand went to trail gently along her faintly-glowing horn, awe and reverence still shining in his eyes.

“ _What_ are you? You’re beautiful, but I’ve never seen anything -" he glanced at Poe and Bazine, sitting on the edge of the wagon as far apart as possible. “What is a quillan?”

"A guardian spirit, formed by the gods and sent to the material plane for a special purpose. Usually to guide or protect a faerie with an important destiny, sometimes to guide a particular people, or bring about a momentous occassion.” She smiled slightly at Finn’s blank stare. "We’re not common. It’s okay. The last quillan lived and died almost a hundred years ago.”

“Well of all the most ridiculous things! A _quillan_ , really?”

Poe glanced up at Bazine, watching the scene before them with a look of stunned disgust, and snickered. “Jealous much?"

She crossed her arms, eyes darting from Poe to Rose and Finn, and then slowly back. A trace of self-satisfied smile ghosted over her washed-out features.

“Are you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finn/Rose is going places, just FYI. I know sometimes people get squicked at anything that's not 100% Reylo, but I am happily sailing a whole fleet of ships myself.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So many things happened at once, only Rey’s sidhe senses caught it all, and she was barely fast enough to stop it. Onera and Jykatha were on their feet as well, the nyxie raising her own deep purple magical blade to block Ben’s, while her girlfriend dove under the table, her curved blade in her hands. Jacen had summoned his own weapon as soon as he shook off his sister and the furry arms of Chopper trying to drag him back, raising the cracking green blade to strike at Ben in a downward sweep, unaware the massive blade had already locked with Onera’s.
> 
> Rey’s ears swiveled rapidly, processing sounds and scents and the faint displacement of the air as she threw herself across the table, catching the seraph’s wrist on a steak knife before his unchecked blade could fall. She landed over the squealing body of his sister, who had climbed up on top of the table in some misguided attempt to stop everything, protecting her with no care for the mess of food ruining her clothes or the very real possibility of meeting the seraph’s weapon herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now back to our regularly scheduled Reylo angst...
> 
> WARNING: There is some slightly gorey violence and various mentions of past sexual assault and trauma ahead.
> 
> Excuse my silly poetry, I just like how extra Ben Solo is, I couldn't resist.

She did not see Ben until later, when a servant arrived to invite her to dinner. She was presented with a fully covered silver platter when BeeBee opened the door, revealing only a single silver rose and and piece of beautiful dove gray stationery folded into the impossible shape of a flying gryph. Intensely curious, she removed the paper and examined it with great care, noting her new maid's secretive smirk, shared with the waiting servant.

“Ben?” She guessed, noting the fine stationery. Who else would send her a dinner invitation so dramatically romantic and confusing at the same time? The little boggan grinned, taking the rose from Rey's hand so she could puzzle at the folded paper. “It almost seems blasphemous to take it apart,” she worried as she put her sidhe dexterity to use, unfolding it with the greatest delicacy.

“I'm sure he will craft another if he sees how much you admire it, my lady. It is a craft that is most popular with the younger generation of the court.” Rey heard her, and had drawn breath to reply, but all thought slipped from her mind save for the fine, curving script revealed from the heart of the paper.

_“To the thief who holds my heart,_

_I offer this small token,_

_That you might recall your own words_

_And accept in lieu of a winged pet,_

_The arms of your unworthy prince._

_I beg only for your presence,_

_to be reunited momentarily with that which has been stolen from me,_

_and will remain ever in your righteous possession._

_For every minute apart from you_

_doubles the ache of emptiness in my chest._

_I beg you to join me at this day’s end_

_with hope that we may join thusly in all days to come.”_

 

Beneath he had written the time and a location she would have to ask the servants about, with a note that he had invited a few close friends to join them in a ‘casual setting.’ It was signed ‘ever your adoring servant’ and Rey instinctively turned the paper over and explored the texture with her fingertips, trying to reassure herself it was even real.

Then she remembered the time, and rechecked it just be sure, before she gave BeeBee a horrified look. “This is in an hour! And I don’t even know where the ‘Cascade Garden’ is!”

“Don’t worry about that,” the maid assured her. “Let’s get you dressed. It’s not a formal dinner, is it? Will Her Majesty be in attendance?”

“I don’t think so. He just said a few close friends.” She handed the paper over a little reluctantly, and the boggan chuckled.

“Oh, he’s got a way with words on paper, our dear Prince! Too bad he can’t deliver speeches with this kind of talent!” She gave the paper back to Rey, who folded it gently into the _Mirrorbright_ volume she had been reading and followed the maid back to her dressing room. “Now let’s see… Casual, but you don’t want to appear too forward, although I imagine Lady Onera will be there in her riding leathers -”

“Onera? Lady Jyka’s fiance?” BeeBee flashed her a bright grin as she searched Rey’s closet.

“That’s right. When there’s not some fancy affair, the Prince and his friends prefer to have dinner on their own where they can relax away from those stodgy kooks in the main hall.” She ambled out with two outfits, a simple blue dress with an embroidered white undercorset, and a pair of dove-gray riding leathers embellished with very feminine embroidery and cleverly-placed sheer lace around the chest and lower sleeves. Rey studied them both critically, intrigued by the option provided by the trousers and jacket, running a hand idly over the soft leather. No respectable woman in her father’s court would show up to dinner in pants, except perhaps Fazma, but she was already considered an oddity for her hawking and fencing. But these clothes were finely made, obviously intended to be worn and viewed in finer settings than the stable, and if Ben intended to take her up in the air again, it would be much more convenient.

She turned to her maid, finally, although her mind was mostly made up. “The Prince’s note suggested he might want to… take me aloft, perhaps, after dinner… A dress would mean I’d have to come back and change again… Would it be too -”

But the maid was already moving, humming to herself as she gathered the items and helped Rey out of her day-wear.

“Let’s tie your hair back then, do you think? And we’ll add that fur stole and your winter boots, it does get a bit cold on the island at night,” she chattered on as she brushed Rey’s hair until it shined in the light before securing it in a simple braided bun with a silk ribbon to match the embroidery of her jacket. “I’ll speak to Threepio about getting you a few more sets of trousers. I imagine you’ll be doing a fair bit of flying, being wedded to a seraphim. Oh, how wonderfully romantic!”

“Yes,” Rey murmured, listening with one ear while her thoughts raced. When Ben said his mother’s court was different, she had tried to imagine it, but the images in her mind hardly prepared her for the real thing. _Trousers_ . _Sorcery._ A servant had arrived during her luncheon with the Queen with a stack of books, waiting on her desk for tonight when she planned to stay alert through the sacred hour to study. She must remember to ask her fiance for ink and pen and paper if she planned to fully immerse herself in her studies. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too disappointed in her dedication to the work, but even if he was, Rey had no intention of letting herself become distracted. It was less than a month now, until her age of maturity, and nevermind how optimistic Master Ahsoka had tried to sound, she had no delusions that attaining her ascendancy would be anything other than a miracle.

A miracle she absolutely intended to throw herself into achieving. A thought occurred to her, and she felt a smile curve over her lips.

Master Ahsoka had worn trousers when she came to visit. They were wide and flowing silk, but she distinctly recalled the dusky red color and the silver belt that held a pair of short sai, a kind of pronged sword-catcher. If Ahsoka and Jykatha could carry weapons, and the Captain of the Queen’s Guard was a woman…  


Rey was still turning over her various revelations of the day when a polite servant delivered her to the Cascade Garden, and her words of gratitude trailed off as the soft sound of a gentle waterfall reached her sensitive ears. She turned, smelling wet stone and cool air and a variety of green, living things, to behold herself in a kind of half-porch, where the white marble of the palace floor had been magically melded against a natural cavern. Water from the high crags above filtered down an impossible series of stone falls, to the slip of ocean just visible in places where the marble had been sculpted low to allow for the passage of water. The ceiling of the room was all glass, with a white lattice branching out to meet the rock wall, draped in the same vines and white flowers that grew out naturally from the falls.

It was the most beautiful melding of magic and nature Rey had ever seen, and she fell in love with the room immediately, before her eyes even made it back to the porch just in front of her, where her Prince and half a dozen others sat in cozy plush chairs around a polished marble table.

It took her a moment to realize Ben was speaking, standing and taking her hand as she hesitantly stepped into the room. The moment her hand was in his, it was as if everything else froze. Sounds faded, details besides the soft curl of his hair and the strong angle of his jaw became blurred, and her chest fell as though she’d been kicked by a war-horse. She tried to say his name, and barely registered the sound of her own voice forming the single, precious syllable.

“You came,” he murmured in her ear as he bent to kiss her cheek. “Thank you.”

“Of course I came.” She laughed at the impossibility of ignoring his beautiful invitation. “How could I not?”

“How indeed,” another male voice interrupted. Rey turned, her eyes filled with a sudden cold malice. Jacen Syndulla stood, next to Jyka and a nyxie she assumed must be Onera. Beside him, his terror of a sister jabbed her sharp elbow into his ribs, eliciting a curse and a harsh cough from her startled sibling.

“Sit down, you idiot, you’re _ruining_ it!”

Ben gave her an apologetic glance as he pulled away, and she smiled, promising them both more intimacy the moment the opportunity presented itself. She let her fiance lead her to the seat beside him, with the lady nyxie she hadn’t met to her left. Directly across from her was the young flower nymph she had met very briefly during her debut at court, and the grimalkin who had carried her to safety.

“Your Highness,” Chopper greeted with a nod to Ben. “Good to see you on your feet.”

“Thank you, my lord.” She smiled at everyone she knew, giving Jaina a special wink and keeping her expression neutral as her eyes passed over the older Syndulla. She turned to Jykatha last, eyes cast between the lamia and the lovely faerie beside her. “I think I’ve met everyone here but one. I assume this beautiful lady is your affianced, Lady Jyka?”

The two women exchanged a glance, the nyxie’s warm laughter setting Rey at ease immediately as she held out her hand.

“Onera Wren, at your service, Lady Reyna.” She bowed over Rey’s hand, pressing the faintest kiss to her knuckles. A few days ago, such an action would have shocked her, but after everything she had experience since coming to New Alderaan, Rey only dipped her head in acknowledgment and accepted the chair Ben tucked in behind her. “We were just discussing our missing friend -”

There was a distinctive throat clearing across the table, and Rey caught Onera in the act of lifting a hand to her forehead. Lord Jacen Syndulla still stood, his sea-green eyes darting between her and Ben with an expression of extreme discomfort.

“Ah, Your Highness, once again, I wish to offer my apology -”

“I believe we discussed this earlier, Lord Syndulla,” she tried to cut him off quickly.

“Oh, _come on_ , just let me finish! You sidhe think you’re so proper -”

“I should think _anyone_ would agree that a lady’s bedchamber is an improper place to begin an apology!” She got to her feet, annoyed that he stood over her, and had to squeeze Ben’s wrist meaningfully to get him to remain seated. “Honestly, perhaps I’d be more willing to accept your apology if you weren’t so _over eager_ to offer it!”

“Would you at least tell me what I did to offend you so greatly in the five seconds after we met?” He leaned forward, slightly, his voice raised, causing Jaina to latch onto his arm and Ben to throw off Rey’s hand. “How am I supposed to offer a sincere apology when I have no idea -”

“Her _bedchamber_? How dare you -” Ben was on his feet, his wrist already moving in the act that summoned his weapon, but Jacen was too intent on Rey and shaking off his sister’s clutches to see it.

So many things happened at once, only Rey’s sidhe senses caught it all, and she was barely fast enough to stop it. Onera and Jykatha were on their feet as well, the nyxie raising her own deep purple magical blade to block Ben’s, while her girlfriend dove under the table, her curved blade in her hands. Jacen had summoned his own weapon as soon as he shook off his sister and the furry arms of Chopper trying to drag him back, raising the cracking green blade to strike at Ben in a downward sweep, unaware the massive blade had already locked with Onera’s.

Rey’s ears swiveled rapidly, processing sounds and scents and the faint displacement of the air as she threw herself across the table, catching the seraph’s wrist on a steak knife before his unchecked blade could fall. She landed over the squealing body of his sister, who had climbed up on top of the table in some misguided attempt to stop everything, protecting her with no care for the mess of food ruining her clothes or the very real possibility of meeting the seraph’s weapon herself. Speed and dexterity were part of the sidhe’s gifts, and though she had never felt their advantage so keenly before, Rey had acted in perfect precision, moving with greater celerity than even the assembled knights and sorcerers.

They all froze, silent except for Jaina’s sobbing and Jacen’s brief howl of pain at the sharp knife spearing his wrist. The seraph’s blood poured down over all three of them, and Rey had a brief moment of terror at the sight, thinking she had been too late. Ignoring the rest, she turned the girl beneath her, checking her frantically for any injury.

“Are you hurt?” The little selkie shook her head, strands of hair covered in mashed potatoes falling in her face, and Rey hugged her close, feeling both their hearts pounding.

“Are you okay? Princess Rey?” She nodded, and the girl sighed in relief. Her eyes fell on her brother then, staggering away from the table with his hand clamped over his wrist, a look of shock on his face mirrored by the others around the table. “You idiot, Jacen! No swords at the table!”

“You - you stabbed me!” He stared, mouth agape at an unrepentant Rey.

“You were going to hit your sister, you fool!” She turned her glare on Ben, remembering how she had caught him with her wrath before and shaking her head to clear it. “And why in all the three kingdoms would you ignite your blade at a friendly dinner with your friends and future wife?”

“He was… I thought he was threatening you…” Ben sighed. Onera banished her blade, freeing him to do the same, her eyes holding the same scorn Rey felt. Jykatha climbed out from the opposite side of the table, a salvaged white napkin in her hand, and held her hands out to Jacen wordlessly, but he shrugged her off. “You are my mate,” Ben said as if he didn’t quite belief his own actions himself. “I have an instinct to defend you.”

“I’m sorry,” Jacen said sincerely. “I didn’t know you had… I misstepped.” He shook his head and dropped to one knee before Ben. “Please forgive me, my dear Prince.”

“Yes. I shouldn’t have ignited my weapon, I didn’t know - I acted purely on impulse. I had no idea taking a mate would affect me like that.” He frowned in Rey’s direction, but not at her. Jacen glanced her way, too, both seraphim sharing a speculative look as their gazes met. “Get up, I’ve no quarrel with you now.”

“Idiots,” the lamia muttered under her breath. “Thank the saints _Poe_ wasn’t here.”

“Lady Rey…” Jaina said softly. “You can let me go now. I’m alright, I promise.”

Rey blinked, realizing she was still clutching the girl to her, and nodded, allowing the nymph - Captain Kaydel Connix, she recalled - to help them both down.

“My rooms are just down the hall,” she offered. Rey took in the state of her clothes, and Jaina’s and nodded dumbly, following Kaydel with a glance of apology towards Ben. Lady Onera followed after them, leaving Jykatha to give both men the tongue-lashing they deserved as Chopper tried to tie off Jacen’s wrist.

As soon as they were inside the relative safety of Lady Kaydel’s rooms - beautiful chambers filled with all kinds of growing things, little fountains in the walls, and a menagerie of domestic pets that Rey would have loved to appreciate another time - she found a place to sit, removed her ruined jacket, and sobbed.

Kaydel knelt beside her, placing a gentle hand on her knee while a sideways glance to Onera had her ushering the young selkie to the bathing chambers. One of Kaydel’s pets, a small winged feline creature, pushed itself into Rey’s lap, and she found herself absently stroking its soft reddish-brown fur.

“Something awful happened in your past,” the nymph observed quietly. “It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me. I can guess, I know the stories. I felt your panic when you dove in after Jaina. You care for her.”

“I do. I… My father had one of my friends executed… All I can remember is the way her eyes looked…” She shuddered at memory of Paige’s empty, dark eyes, and Rose trying in vain later to close her eyes after the fact.

“I understand.” She hesitated, leaning in to try and catch Rey’s gaze. “If you want, I can… I can help with that. It’s part of my power, I can make your memories… less vivid. I can’t take them away, but they won’t be so traumatic.”

“I don’t want to forget,” Rey said slowly. “I just…”

“You feel so much. You have so much compassion, I can sense it.” She pulled herself up onto the little couch beside Rey, taking the hand that wasn’t occupied by the winged cat. It gave a little noise and crouched protectively around her, and they both laughed. “Curious. She doesn’t get on with people very well. I’ve never seen her take to a stranger so quickly.”

“Like Jaina?” Rey smiled, her tears subsiding. Kaydel glanced towards the inner part of her chambers and returned her smile.

“Ben is not particularly enamored of people, either. You have a talent for taming wild things.” The nymph gave her a speculative look. “Jacen thinks you’re controlling everyone with your sidhe charm.”

“Do you think so?”

“No.” Kaydel smirked. “I think you are a kind and generous spirit grown in an impossible soil. And if you _were_ practicing some kind of dark sorcery, Leia and Ahsoka would have thrown you to the sea the moment they laid eyes on you. But I also think perhaps there’s a story you should hear, and no one seems to want to tell you, so I suppose it falls to me.”

“Oh?”

“Have you spoken to Master Skywalker yet?”

“No… I told Ahsoka I would meet with him, but he hasn’t asked.” She frowned. “What does this have to do with Luke?”

“When your father banished them from Coruscant, Mara and Luke came here. They were… _adamant_ that Leia gather her forces and march immediately. Lord Lando was already doing so in Cloud City, but it’s only a small duchy. We have two navies, an army and the Queen’s Guard.”

Rey closed her eyes. So they had pled her case. Her uncle and Mara hadn’t just abandoned her, they meant to bring help…

“Why…” Her voice came out hoarse, and she swallowed. “Why didn’t they?”

“Well, they would have, but… Master Luke decided to try for his ascendancy first. And when he came back, he said he’d had a vision… If we went to war… You would die. Snoke would kill you before the whole assembled army.” Rey choked back a sob, and Kaydel paused, squeezing her hand.

“Tell me. I want to know the rest.” She met the other woman’s vibrant eyes, irises the red ochre of a fallen leaf, and Kaydel bowed her head.

“Master Luke convinced them to wait. He said he would train Ben, and Leia and Lando came up with a plan to get help from the Knights of Ren, but Mara…” She took a deep breath, and Rey shuddered as the image of her cousin’s eyes flashed into her mind, wide with horror and unspeakable anguish, locked onto hers like the single length of rope holding her entire sanity together.

“She didn’t like it.”

“No.”

“That’s why they never married. Luke and Mara.” Rey guessed, and Kaydel nodded. She closed her eyes, looking away with her eyes blurred by tears. “He was right, though. About my father. It’s exactly… It’s something he would have done. Especially if he knew he would lose.”

“That’s… Well. You should know, after they broke their engagement - with the whole court to see, of course, that’s the Skywalkers for you,” Kaydel gave a brief roll of her eyes. “Mara tried to recruit Ben to her side first, thinking he would resent an arranged marriage. And he _did_ , but… Ben does not respond very well to being manipulated, and that is what she was doing. And I think he was appalled at her methods just as much -”

“Oh.” Rey’s head jerked to regard Kaydel with a flash of insight. “ _Ohhhhhh…._ She tried to seduce him. And when she couldn’t get Ben… She went to Jacen.”

“Ah-ha,” the other faerie gave a gentle smile. “Ahsoka was right, you’re definitely Kenobi and Lady Setine’s grandkid. Queen Kira was a brilliant politician too, they say. I’m sorry you lost her so young.”

“My father poisoned her, I believe.” Rey’s eyes narrowed. “I think she had a hand in all of this, though. I think she arranged our marriage with Leia the moment I was born. She must have known what was happening, but I cannot fathom why she would sacrifice herself so, unless it was some kind of vision as well.”

They were interrupted by a firm knock on the door, followed by Ben’s low voice.

“Kaydel? Is -” The other woman blinked in surprise as Rey got her feet, displacing the little cat, who fluttered its wings and managed to alight on Rey’s shoulder instead. She gave Kaydel a smile she hoped encompassed the depth of her gratitude for the insights she’d offered.

“Thank you… For everything.” She opened the door a crack, facing the haggard eyes of her beloved idiot.

“If you ever need help… You know where I am. I hope we can be friends, Princess.”

Rey glanced over her shoulder.

“We already are.” She tried to dislodge the tiny cat, but was met with hissing and a dozen puncture wounds in her shoulder. “Ah…”

“I see you’ve managed to find a home for another of your little orphans,” Ben smirked as Rey opened the door wider, peering past her to the shrugging nymph. He reached out to scratch the cat’s chin, and she settled more comfortably on Rey’s shoulder. He laughed at the dark look she gave him, shaking his head. “It’s too late now. She’s yours now.”

“I don’t even know what she _is_ ,” Rey complained.

“She is a qualmi,” Kaydel offered. “I found an abandoned litter when Poe and I were in the Wroshyrwood. The rest didn’t make it.”

“Poor little thing,” Rey looked at the kitten, who stared back with unblinking yellow eyes. “Can she actually fly?”

“She will, when she’s full grown. Right now she just sort of… glides.” Kaydel glanced from Ben’s sardonic grin to Rey’s hesitant frown, and brightened. “Please keep her, Rey! If you have a baby seraphim, there’s no better guardian! They’re fiercely loyal beasts.”

Rey was looking at her new friend with an expression of newfound joy, so she missed the frown her betrothed cast towards Kaydel.

“How big do these things get?” He asked worriedly. The nymph offered a carefully neutral expression, suddenly glancing behind her as if she was in a hurry to get them out the door.

“Oh, well… It varies, of course… She was the runt of the litter, so… I doubt she’ll grow as large as most adults…”

“ _Kaydel_ -”

“Ah, I think I hear Onera calling… I shouldn’t keep you… Have a lovely night.” The wooden door shut heavily, right in the face of the unimpressed prince, and Rey couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

“Oh, yes, laugh as much as you want, my love,” he said, turning to offer her his arm. He bent to kiss her cheek as she accepted, and the kitten deftly launched itself from Rey to Ben’s much larger shoulder, tiny nails digging into his padded vest. “Mark me now, this beast is going to be the size of a pegasus -”

“Good,” Rey said sincerely. “If we happen to have twin winged boys, perhaps she can help keep them from trying to murder each other over dinner.”

“Ah. I.” He stopped walking, and because he was huge and heavy and had her arm tucked into his, she stopped too. “Rey, I’m sorry -”

She shook her head, holding up a finger to his lips to silence him.

“Why are you apologizing to me?” He looked down, his eyes drawn to her hand against his lips before he tried to put together a response.

“Because I… ruined your dinner?”

“Hmm. I suppose you did do that.”

“Come back to my rooms, let me make it up to you,” he insisted.

Rey hesitated. “Did you and Jacen work out your aggression?”

“Yes.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair to avoid her gaze, a habit Rey was beginning to recognize meant he was trying to think past any current distractions. “Rey, you should know - Jacen doesn’t hate you, there’s just a history -”

“I know about Mara. Kaydel told me.”

“She told you your cousin campaigned for us to let you die? That she convinced Jacen and half the court that you would be insane and unfit to be married to anyone?” His voice had an edge to it, and Rey was shocked by both his words and the cold fury he radiated.

“No, she just told me Luke had a vision and that’s why your mother never invaded… She said Luke and Mara fought over it in court, and then she tried to seduce you and… Jacen.” She remembered telling Ben and Leia she would like to see her cousin and uncle again, but hearing the way Ben spoke, she was less certain. She bit her lip, seeing Mara’s eyes again. _Was that sympathy? Did it really hurt her like it did me…?_

Unbidden, her father’s words snuck into her head: _Lady Mara is not your friend. She would take the throne for herself._

She bowed her head against Ben’s chest, shoulders shaking. She thought of Kaydel’s offer as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close, holding her with his silent strength while she struggled just to find a piece of herself to hold onto. Something that wasn’t pain, or turmoil or uncertainty.

“Rey, look at me.” He tipped her head up towards him with a knuckle under her chin. “You don’t have to see her. Never again, if you don’t want to. You are the rightful heir -”

“But I’m not,” she shook her head, tears filling her eyes. “You know that, you know I’m… Mara is Lando’s _daughter_ . And his mother was not my grandmother. My _mother_ should never have been queen, she wasn’t even legitimate -”

“That doesn’t matter. When your mom became queen, Mara Jade wasn’t even born. And Lando never married her mother, either, she’s not a Calrissian at all, everyone knows that -”

“So at best we have an equal claim.”

“No, Rey.”

They both froze. And turned. Just past Kaydel’s quarters, where a branching hallway led into the Central Hall, Luke Skywalker stood watching them. Rey blinked rapidly.

_Blue eyes. Luke has blue eyes. And wings._

A vision of blue and indigo feathers filled her mind, Luke’s howl of pain and the patronizing laugh of Kreia’s guardsman. _Hux. General Hux. He was the first -_

She couldn’t breathe. Everything was silence and too loud all at once. Luke’s voice cut through it, dragging her out of the hellscape of memory to the present.

“You’re going to be a sorceress, Rey. You have it in you, I know you do.”

“How do you know?” Somehow, she knew the answer, but he gave it to her anyway.

“Because I’ve seen it.”

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Uncle,” he said hurriedly. “Please, you have to tell the Queen to release me -”
> 
> “No. I do not ‘have’ to do any such thing. You deserve to spend a night contemplating how to speak and behave in a foreign court.” Poe looked away from Cassian's hard stare. “Although, I am impressed, I must admit. Her Majesty has a temper, but I have never seen her provoked so quickly. Your friend there is lucky to be alive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, Poe. Can't hold in his temper for ten seconds. Fortunately, he has family to intervene...

“ _ One does not become a queen in a day, nor does a crown a queen make.”  _

The seraphine swooping low over the fields beyond her castle walls had certainly become a queen, but Breha Organa's words had never been far from her thoughts. She thought of her dear friend, the Organa's adopted daughter, and how jealous she had been of Amilyn's wings. The irony was not lost on either of them when Leia gave birth to a seraph years later. She had smiled, offering compliments on the child’s raven-black coloring, and his mother promptly burst into tears, sobbing into her robes as the seraphine gently explained that wing and hair pigment was no indicator of a child’s future.

She folded her own gold-trimmed violet wings as she came to a landing with a hop on the wide rampart of her home, remembering how Breha had given Leia one of her own blue-white feathers and taught them how to fashion feathers into ornaments and braid them into their hair. Had it been truly half a century since that night spent as girls, giggling with Leia in her adoptive mother's cabin aboard the  _ Mirrorbright _ , both flagship and stealth weapon of the Alderaanian navy? 

_ No, _ the queen considered as she stood overlooking the lands beyond Chiron Keep, small farms and shepherd’s cottages mostly, who paused in their work to behold the approaching party.  _ Longer even. Long enough for an empire to fall, to rebuild what we lost, and see a new enemy rise from the ashes of the old. _

She sighed, turning away from the overlook and laying a hand on the arm of the faithful Commander of the Knights of Ren, and her dearest friend, Jyn Erso Andor.

“The dark-skinned man is no doubt a Fomorian. I believe the haughty woman is too, but she doesn’t seem a very strong one.” She paused, casting another glance downwards at the four disparate forms on horseback. “But the young lady with the horn -”

“I thought she was a lamia,” Jyn said, catching the way the Queen's voice grew solemn. Amilyn shook her head adamantly.

“Oh, no. No. Have you ever seen a quillan, Jyn?”

The knight's eyes grew wide, and she shot another look through her telescope at the strange faerie riding alongside the two Fomori and the roguish ifreet who was her sister’s son. Like most noblese fae, Jyn’s appearance was youthful, but in truth the selkie was older than the Queen, and had traveled extensively with her ifreet mate, First Ranger Cassian Andor. How in all the kingdoms a water faerie and a fire faerie managed to have a working marriage still baffled Amilyn, but there were no better warriors in all of Ren, and when they fought together they felled entire battalions.

Jyn studied the view from the collapsible telescope a long time before she stepped back and folded the bit of clockwork back into itself, stowing it neatly on her belt. It was gift from Poe Dameron’s father, a clever boggan who worked metal as well as his predominantly ifreet family. Captain Shara and her husband had been lost at sea when Poe was a child, and Leia Organa had been kind enough to take him in. Jyn and Cassian adored their nephew, but their lives were even busier and riskier than Poe’s parents, and they had hoped New Alderaan would give him a more stable foundation.

Unfortunately, he was still an ifreet, drawn to adrenaline and prone to take risks, as evidenced by his pursuit of training among the ranks of Leia’s most capable special agents. This was the first Jyn had seen her nephew in several years, since his knighting ceremony when he joined the Nightfall Squadron. The company he came to them under was curious indeed, but she was still glad to seem alive and still burning with that restless spirit she remembered from his youth.

“You're right.” She said finally, but Amilyn knew her friend well enough to see something weighed on her thoughts. “The horn has a glow, it’s just hard to see with the black and the sun so bright.” Jyn paused a moment, her eyes dark and distant before she turned to her Queen and continued. “I knew a quillan, once.”

“And?” The queen prompted.

“Quillan are sent to guard a destiny. Sometimes a place, or a kingdom, but most often a particular person…” she trailed off momentarily, lost in some memory of the ancient past. “The one I knew, Chirrut… He was the last guardian of a forgotten temple, in a city besieged by the Empire. Long before the city or the Dark Lords or any of us, that temple contained a wealth of knowledge and sorcerers would come from afar to study and make offerings at the altar there. But by our time, it was all but forgotten, just Chirrut and one surly old boggan left. He was old and blind and yet… So full of light. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be chained to a single place, a single purpose like that, guiding others to claim their destiny with no ability to seek out your own.”

“What happened to him, Jyn?” The Queen asked in a quiet voice.

“He came with us for a while, after the Emperor's magic destroyed his temple. Saved our lives in Scarif.” She gave a sort of shrug. “He sacrificed himself, but he died smiling. I doubt I'll ever forget the moment. Cassian said he was finally able to choose his own fate, and that we shouldn't shed tears for him, but it just seemed so sad to me.”

“This quillan seems very young,” Amilyn pointed out. “I'm quite curious as to how she happened to be in Coruscant in the first place. At any rate, either she is travelling to her ordained purpose, or she is travelling with them now. Send them to me as soon as they come through the gates and we shall find out.”

“All four of them?”

“Yes. But be sure the Fomori aren't harboring any hidden weapons. Have Cassian join us, he can debrief Lord Dameron while we're at it.”

Jyn offered her a brief smile at that. Amilyn knew her chief officers had been concerned at their nephew's risky mission, and Cassian would want to lay eyes upon the younger ifreet as soon as possible. They had no children themselves, Jyn had never expected to with such a pairing, but Cassian had come from a large family, and took a special interest in the nephew who shared his kin.

She just hoped he had good reason for leading Formori into Queen Amilyn’s tiny kingdom. The seraphine was wise and well-respected by her people, but like most seraphim, she was fiercely protective of her people, with a temper to match any ifreet’s, and Poe Dameron had a known prejudice towards the winged fae.

  
  
  


“I must offer my congratulations, nephew.” Poe leapt to his feet at the familiar voice, coming to stand as close to the iron bars of the cell he occupied as he could bear. Cassian Andor gave him a faint shake of the head, accompanied by slow, loud clapping of his hands. The sound caused his cell mate to sniff irritably, and Poe gave her a scathing look.

“Uncle,” he said hurriedly. “Please, you have to tell the Queen to release me -”

“No. I do not ‘have’ to do any such thing.  _ You _ deserve to spend a night contemplating how to speak and behave in a foreign court.” Poe looked away from Cassian's hard stare. “Although, I am impressed, I must admit. Her Majesty has a temper, but I have never seen her provoked so quickly. Your friend there is lucky to be alive.”

“How dare you!” Bazine climbed to her feet, lips pulled back in a snarl, and Poe grabbed her, all pretense of propriety thrown aside as he firmly clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Stop,” he grumbled vainly, rolling his eyes as she writhed against him. Cassian regarded him with one eyebrow raised, a faint, mocking smile on his lips.

“I was not aware your preferences had changed -”

“No. They haven’t -” he struggled with the angry Fomorian princess, yanking his hand away with a yelp as Bazine bit him. Cassian chuckled, and Poe glowered. “Still. Not. Interested.”

“Well that’s your loss,” she snapped, as if she hadn’t made her thoughts on that clear a hundred times already. “I offered you comfort, when the object of your interests refused you, and  _ this _ is how you treat me? I am a  _ princess _ ! Unhand me, you wretched desert rat!”

Poe released her with a heartfelt curse, some small amount of amusement brightening his eyes as she tried to turn her wiles on his astute uncle. He wondered how Jyn would react to Bazine’s ridiculous display, and could almost see her crossed arms and steeled gaze. With no recourse left to him, he stood back and let her dig her own grave.

“Cassian is it? Lord Cassian? Or is it Sir?” She purred.

“Just Cassian. I’m no Knight, I leave that to my lady wife.”

“Your wife is a Knight? She must not be very ladylike dressed up in armor. My sister plays at fencing and hawking, all those calluses and hard thighs from sitting astride the saddle! A true lady should be soft and yielding…” Poe couldn’t quite see her face, but he noted his uncle’s flat, disbelieving tone and imagined she was doing that ridiculous thing with her eyelashes.

“It seems very inappropriate for anyone who claims to be a  _ lady _ to discuss how a woman’s body should feel with a married man. Perhaps you’d be better served addressing yourself to my nephew.” Cassian caught his eyes over Bazine’s head, a lingering smirk on his lips and a flare of emotion in his charcoal eyes.

The princess seemed to be pouting.

“Your nephew is a horrible abomination,” she snapped. “How can a man want to take another man to bed? What is the  _ point _ , it’s not as if you can get an heir that way -”

Cassian chuckled, while Poe shot her a dark look. 

“Again, my lady, I must protest this line of discussion. I have no interest in my nephew’s bedroom, and as for an heir, well - Queen Leia herself was adopted.” He shrugged. “But if you believe the purpose of such activities is solely to reproduce, then I must offer you my condolences.”

“Your… condolences?” She turned her head halfway towards Poe, as if he might explain his uncle’s odd statement, but he simply shrugged and refused to make eye contact. “I’m afraid I don’t understand…”

“Well, you seem a bit too old and eager to be entirely pure, so I presume that means you have been poorly treated by the men you’ve shared yourself with, and that is a terrible waste.” He stepped forward slightly, revealing the long-handled sterling silver key he had concealed at his side. “Now, I must beg your apology again. The Queen wishes to speak to Lord Dameron privately.”

Bazine resorted to sobs as Cassian opened the cell, but neither man gave her room to escape. Cassian offered her his handkerchief before closing and locking the door again with a final sympathetic bow. “I do hope you find happiness someday, Lady Bazine. I am sorry that politics and the circumstances of your birth have left you in such a desperate state.”

Poe frowned over his shoulder as he followed his uncle up the winding spiral staircase from the dimly-lit dungeon out to the castle’s courtyard, where the late afternoon shadows had begun to creep up.

“I’m not sure she is safe left to her own devices,” he whispered. Cassian’s reply was a low chuckle.

“Would you prefer for me to have left you to keep her company?”

“Of course not. I just mean - the whole reason we were locked away is due to the Queen’s sense of Bazine’s malicious intent.” Inwardly, he cringed at the memory of himself bickering with the Fomorian princess before Amilyn’s cold inquiry. He had been lucky enough to incur the seraphine’s ire by admitting he suspected Bazine’s duplicitousness from the start, turning on her before the queen even spoke to Finn or Rose. She had ordered them both locked up until she could speak to them separately, and he had no idea what had become of their other two companions. 

“I never should have brought them here,” he groaned, scrubbing his hands over the ashen overgrowth of stubble on his face and neck. “I was just so shocked about Rose. And she accepted Finn, so I wrongly assumed she had tested Bazine as well.”

“You were injured, my nephew. Do not worry so much about Amilyn Holdo’s ire. She is not unlike our own kin, her fire is hot, but fleeting.” He smiled warmly, wrapping an affectionate arm around Poe’s shoulders. “Let’s get you fed and cleaned up. And don’t worry about the little princess. Lady Luminara and her brood will be waking soon to take over the night shift on the walls. We have had no need of a full dungeon in Ren for decades, and Her Majesty has granted the lower level to the nyxies. I’ve already warned Master Windu about the Fomori.”

“What about Rose and Finn?” He really wanted to take Cassian up on the offer of food and rest, but he had to know if Finn, and more importantly, Rose, had had a successful audience with the Queen. No monarch in the three kingdoms save perhaps Snoke would turn away or imprison a quillan, but he had a feeling if Finn was under guard somewhere, Rose would insist on staying by his side.

But his uncle only offered a knowing smile, tilting his head towards the guest wing of the castle.

“I believe they were given the green rooms, up there in the east tower. Her Majesty was a bit shocked when the girl asked they be kept together, but she is wiser than many people think.” He directed Poe towards the low, long building that connected the castle and the wide wall on the far side, closing in the paved courtyard with the sturdy stable making up the final wall. “Don’t worry so much, Poe! You are not responsible for every living thing at all times!”

But as he gazed up at the flickering light of the tower window, Poe found his worries had only compounded. Lady Rose was sent to guide Princess Reyna, and he had pledged to get her to New Alderaan as quickly as possible, but he was uneasy at the prospect of introducing Finn to the bigger and vastly more complicated court there. Hopefully, the presence of a legendary faerie not seen in over a century, and her open devotion to him, would win over the majority, but Poe Dameron had not become Lieutenant-Captain of the Nightfall Squadron in a single day. There were those who would accept it with compassion, Leia’s closest allies and friends, but he knew of at least three nobles off the top of his head who were just as likely to cause havoc.

Bringing Princess Reyna under their protection and securing a truly noble marriage for Ben was supposed to silence some of those rabble, not add even more intrigue to their already overburdened shoulders.

“Does the Commander still have her enchanted mirror?” He asked as they entered Cassian and Jyn’s comfortable quarters.

“‘The Commander?’”He turned to see the woman in question standing in the doorway of her office, casting his legs an appraising look. “You’re walking better, that’s good to see.”

“Thank you.” He grinned. “Aunt Jyn.”

She uncrossed her arms and came into the room, and Poe met her in the middle with an affectionate hug. He could smell the sea salt in her hair and her worn leather armor, reminding him of his own long-passed selkie mother.

“That’s more like it,” she observed him at arm’s length, just as his mother always had. Jyn seemed to see the old grief come into his eyes, and she glanced over his shoulder towards her husband. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll go to the shore, just us, and pay our respects.”

“Thank you.”

“You must know, Poe. Your aunt and I, we would move the stars for you,” Cassian added. “This mission nearly took your life  _ twice _ . And then you bring Fomori before our Queen!” He chuckled.

“Cassian,” Jyn admonished. She gestured to the warm leather couch before the open fire pit in their den, while her husband moved to stoke the coals to life. “Sit and put your leg in the fire,” she ordered, taking the plush armchair nearby as he did what she instructed. “Now, why do you need to use my scrying mirror?”

“I need to report to Ben or Leia. Let them know there’s a… complication.”

“You’re not planning on taking Finn to New Alderaan?” Jyn said in surprise.

“Well… I wasn’t, but -”

Cassian looked up from the fire, meeting his wife’s disbelieving stare.

“I don’t think she will go without him, flame-of-my-heart.”

Jyn leaned back, regarding Poe with a skeptical expression.

“You can use the mirror, of course,” she sighed. “Give them as much warning as possible. Hopefully, you don’t give Leia a heart attack on top of everything.”

“I’ll reach out to Ben first,” he decided. “Best chance is probably the sacred hour.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Of course you make your own notebooks.” She smiled, clutching the slim silver-and-white volume eagerly. The pages inside were thin but well-trimmed, the paper crisp and clean. Rey shook her head, taking up a piece of faerie cake and climbing onto the bed beside Ben. “Is there anything with which you are not well-accomplished?”
> 
> "I'm terrible at speeches. Not the easiest flaw for a prince."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do believe I promised some Finn/Rose! If that squicks you out umm... idk, scroll to the last half, I guess, but I have to warn you, there's gonna be more in later chapters...
> 
> On a sad note, I am gonna be on hiatus for a couple weeks as I fell and had to get stitches and am nursing a badly contussed knee and sprained ankle. Luckily nothing's broken, but I can't type at my usual pace for a while :(

“I didn’t realize you would keep the sacred hour.” Rose offered a warm smile as Finn turned away from gazing out the darkened to window to meet her.

He returned her smile, but stood still away from her, and she bit back a growl of frustration. It had seemed like an easy trap to spring, requesting that they be given shared quarters so she could keep him under watch, though Poe Dameron would have seen through such a ruse in an instant. But he had launched into Bazine the moment Queen Amilyn asked about her intentions, and their shouting had brought swift punishment upon them both, leaving Rose alone to speak for them. Finn would have been in the dungeon with them had she not pointedly grasped his hand before the seraphine’s sharp gaze, and she had no doubt the guards posted outside their doors had less to do with her safety and more to do with keeping Finn from wandering freely.

As soon as it became clear there was only one bed, he had claimed the couch in the sitting room, firmly refusing her shy attempts to share. Now she tried plying him with wine brought in by the servant who woke her just before the middle hour. She had spent much of her life pretending to sleep while Rey wandered, or tiptoeing after her divine charge to watch with baited breath as she climbed over the rooftops. Quillan were elegant and dextrous creatures, but the dannan form she’d worn for so long did not have the agility to follow in a sidhe’s steps. Instead, she had found various places from which to watch her charge, and thankfully the princess kept a fairly standard routine. But in all their nightly excursions, she had never seen a single guardsman awake.

“We don’t, actually,” Finn sighed, accepting the glass she offered. “I just couldn’t sleep.”

“Too much on your mind?” Spying an opportunity, Rose settled on the couch, making herself comfortable against his pillows and drawing the spare blanket he’d been using over her lap. It smelled like him faintly already, a mix of wood ash and the worn leather and straw scent of the stables. Finn’s gaze took her in, widening at the way she deliberately nestled into his bedding, and he seemed to have forgotten her question entirely.

“Come sit by me,” she demanded, making room. “I feel so lonely with Rey gone. Like I’ve misplaced something important, but can’t seem to remember what.”

Gingerly, eyes on hers like she might flee if he moved too quickly, Finn sat. At the very edge of the couch, as far from her as possible. Rose shook her head slightly.

“No, you idiot. Sit _by_ me.” She slid over so their bodies touched, then wound her arm under his and took his hand, leaning into his shoulder. “Relax. No one can see us. We’re just holding hands anyway. Nothing improper about that.”

“Rose…” His eyes dropped to where her fingers laced with his, and he brushed a thumb along her palm, feeling the slight ridges of the fine silver scales there. “I shouldn’t… I’m a monster. I shouldn’t even be in the same room with you.”

“I can decide for myself who gets to share my room,” she insisted. “And my bed. People can think what they like, but I can see your heart, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“What does that mean? You can see my heart?” He turned to meet her gaze, eyes raised in a question. “Do you mean the way Queen Amilyn saw Bazine’s intentions?”

“Sort of. Seraphim can feel emotion like most people feel warm or cold. But it’s vague, I guess. So she could tell Bazine had malicious thoughts, but not exactly what those thoughts were.” She frowned. She should have paid more attention to the spurned princess, it would have saved Poe the time spent in the castle dungeon. But without the ifreet jumping to nine different conclusions before anyone finished a single sentence, she had been able to have a thoughtful audience with Amilyn Holdo. “I know she was looking for someone she could bribe or threaten to get her out of here, though. And she thought she could use you to aid in her plot.”

“But you knew I would never help her. Or that’s what you told the Queen.” He leaned forward, searching her face intently. “Rose, how do you _know_ that? How can you be so sure -”

“Were you not listening, you brainless shadow fiend? I see your heart just as clearly as Bazine’s! More so, because you’re not trying to hide anything! I know you despise her, you despise what you are, you want to be free of it because you love -” his eyes found hers and her voice caught in her throat. Hesitantly, she forced herself to continue with him looking directly into her eyes, his expression so heartbreakingly open. Open and terrified. “Because… you love me. Don’t you? Finn?”

“You already know that.”

“I do,” she whispered, leaning forward so her lips brushed his as she spoke. “But I want to hear you say it. Please, Finn?”

His hand tightened under hers and his eyes darted from her gaze to her mouth and back as he gathered himself.

“Yes. I do love you, Rose. I just -”

She didn’t let him finish, pressing her mouth to his with determination, her whole body tensed to lean into it, and Finn couldn’t deny her. He moaned when she traced his lip with her tongue, letting her in to explore his mouth as he let go of her hand and finally took her into the eager, passionate embrace she desired so much. Her hands slipped up between them, one cupping his face tenderly while the other dug sharp talons into the round muscle of his shoulder. Finn didn’t seem to mind, although she was sure she’d ruined his shirt, and she gasped when his pointed teeth caught her bottom lip just hard enough to draw blood. He tried to hold her when she pulled away, and she looked down worriedly, eyes wide at the sight of his mouth and lips smeared with her silver blood.

“I’m sorry, I - it was just instinct, it’s not -”

“Are you alright?!” Hurriedly, she felt his lip with her thumb, frantically reaching for the healing magic she had used on Poe earlier, her horn glowing with an impossible dark light. “You idiot, my blood could kill you!”

She turned his head to the side, checking is pulse, moving her thumbs over the smooth skin of his jaw and neck. He grabbed her hands in his, pulling them down to get her attention.

“Rose, I’m fine, I swear! You don’t… if this is what poison tastes like, I will die in pleasure, but I’m fine.” His eyes were dark, in the light of her horn she could see his pupils were wide and he breathed heavily, unconsciously licking the last traces from his lips with a sigh of delight.

“You’re really alright? You don’t feel ill at all?” She could hardly believe it, but he was right here before her eyes, clearly alive and well and… Panting. Somehow she’d climbed into his lap and he’d let her, and she could feel his body responding to her nearness as well as whatever affect the taste of her blood had upon him.

“No. No, I’m… I’m more than alright.” His hands rested lightly on her hips, but she could feel the coiled muscles of his arms, see the burning desire and adoration for her that consumed his heart. “Can I kiss you again? I won’t bite this time, I know better -”

“Please do!” She laughed, hands gently tilting his face away from the dangerous point of her horn, so she could lean down and plunder his mouth with a will. “And I never said you couldn’t bite,” she whispered between kisses. “Just a little.”

Very soon his kisses had moved from her lips to her neck, where his teeth delicately pierced her flesh, and Rose realized she was dressed for sleep in a silk gown and very little else. It didn’t take Finn long to figure that out as well, and she closed her eyes and moaned when his questing hands reached skin underneath the hem of her gown.

“Is this okay?” He murmured as his palms spread across her back. In response, she clawed at his undershirt, too impatient to untuck it from his trousers, and he gave a startled grunt in response to her dragging the pieces away to reveal the gorgeous chocolate skin beneath.

“Is this?” She giggled as she sat back to admire his body, hands smoothing over the expanse of hard muscle while Finn just shook his head.

“These are Poe Dameron’s clothes, you know.” He was trying to sound stern, but Rose was stubbornly unimpressed.

“I’m sure he won’t mind too much. He seems like the kind of man who loses clothes rather easily. He might be jealous, though.” She let out a squeak as his hands moved to grip her waist again, and in a second he had lifted her off of his lap and deposited her on the blanket beside them. “What -”

Finn eyed her with a trace of a smirk, settling on his knees at her feet. His hands rested gently on her thighs while he looked up at her, waiting for permission.

“Oh.” She managed intelligently. Swallowing around a sudden rush of adrenaline, Rose tried again. “You want to -”

“I want to know what you taste like,” he answered. “ _Everywhere._ ”

“Oh…” She stared at him, trembling and eager all at once. Slowly, she nodded, allowing him to spread her legs with gentle hands and tug her body so he could reach where she was shockingly damp between them. His fingers closed around her underwear and she yelped when he ripped it away, grinning.

“Now we’re even.”

“That’s hardly comparable to a ripped shirt! It would only have taken a mo - _ah_!” He drew a finger through her, and then repeated the movement more slowly with his tongue. She found herself quickly growing short of breath as he did it again and again, his tongue wiggling deeper each time.

“I’ve never done this,” he whispered after a minute. “Tell me if… if you want me to stop.”

“No, no, please don’t stop.” He leaned down further, sliding her legs over his shoulders and Rose had to bite her knuckles to keep from making more embarrassingly lascivious noises. He concentrated at the the apex of her heat, his tongue lapping back and forth in a rhythm, and she felt the warmth that had been building within her spread out through her body.

“There! There, Finn, please -” She prayed to everything holy the walls of this place were thick enough that the guards posted outside wouldn’t hear her, or at least that they were graced with the studious disinterest of seasoned servants everywhere. If she had to face Poe Dameron’s knowing little smirk, or worse, _Bazine_ ’s, she might have to punch someone.

Right now though, she couldn’t care less who heard if Finn would just continue what he was doing, with maybe a little more speed. She moved her hips against him instinctively, and he seemed to understand her need, his tongue dipping out faster and distracting her momentarily while his hand departed her thigh and slipped down. She became aware of his searching fingers and closed her eyes, holding her breath when he found her slick entrance and hesitated.

“Rose?”

“Yes. Yes, please, but I - you must know I haven’t -”

“I know, that’s why I asked.” He paused and she opened her eyes to see him looking up at her, and oh, _that_ sight did something to the heat already pounding through her veins. She nodded, desperate for him to go on. “Are you positive this is what you want?”

“I just said yes, you idiot!” She almost hissed, and Finn gave her a pleased grin. “Go on, please!”

She expected there to be some pain at first, but when his first finger breached her, she only wanted more, whimpering and grinding down until he added another. That was enough to leave her moaning, combined with his tongue moving in its rhythm against her, it spread warmth and pleasure all the way up her spine, and she cried out his name as the wave crested and her body clenched around his fingers.

He licked her more gently as she gathered herself, still trembling and twitching with the strength of her climax. When she could breathe again, she rested a hand on his head, taloned fingers scraping delicately over his short-cropped scalp.

“Hi,” she smiled, finding him watching her as she opened her eyes.

“Hi, Rose.”

“I’m sorry I called you an idiot.” He laughed, and she was struck by how beautiful he was when he laughed, the way it lit up his eyes and encouraged her to smile in response.

“I forgive you.” He climbed to his feet, bending over to pull her nearly-boneless frame into his arms against her protests. She stopped complaining when she realized he was carrying her to the bed, but when he laid her down and tried to leave, she snatched at his wrist with all her strength.

“Wait!” Her eyes flew open, catching his and refusing to yield. “What about you?”

“Ahhh…” His tone was was high, and she knew if his skin were lighter, she’d be able to see crimson in his cheeks. “Don’t worry about me…”

“Finn! Of course I’m -” His eyes darted downwards, and when she followed them she could see why he looked so embarrassed. “Oh, well. Take off your pants and get in here, then!”

“Not tonight, Rose. I need to know you’re alright with me… with this. People change their minds when the sun’s out.” He returned her gaze, pleading for understanding. Rose sighed and shook her head.

“I just want you to hold me. And sleep.” She glared, daring him to deny her that comfort after what they’d just done.

“Oh.”

“Idiot.”

 

 

Rey sat at the cozy wooden desk in her bedchamber, pouring over the second of Master Ahsoka’s books. The first had been a simple primer, not unlike St. Obi-wan’s, and she had mastered the exercises with little effort after returning to her suite last night as soon as she could convince her betrothed to let her escape. Her day hours had been spent in conference with Leia and two of her admirals, Lady Hera and Lord Ackbar, and once she was finally free of their questions, she had begged away a shared lunch for a plate of fruit and a nap. Afternoon had brought Threepio and a small flock of tailors, and though BeeBee had watched them with a stern eye and kicked them out (almost literally, with Threepio) when she felt the princess had had enough, they had still exhausted her.

But she could not waste more time sleeping, so she had ordered a pot of strong caf and a bit of faerie cake, and settled down to her studies.

_Reach into the aether with an open mind, but take care with your shielding. Even the slightest crack may end in a disaster most frightful._

She shook her head in frustration. It seemed she’d spent hours working on her shielding the way the book explained in the previous exercises, but everytime she thought she had woven something solid, it slipped and fled the moment she tried to “reach out” as the instructions called for.

Feeling the sinuous threads flee her grasp once more, she cursed aloud, slamming the book closed furiously. A gentle tap distracted her, and she turned to find her betrothed at her bedroom window, the sky behind him as dark as the depths of the sea. She beckoned for him to enter, having left the door unlatched, and blinked in surprise as he gently pushed aside her careful notes and laid a tray of sandwiches, faerie cake and blessed fresh caf on the desk.

“You didn’t come to dinner.” He gave her a slightly wounded look, and Rey sighed, leaning back to stretch her arms.

“I meant to, I just wanted to get this last bit down and I cannot for the life of me understand it!” She glanced at the candlemark clock on her bedroom wall and realized she had worked well past dinner. “Did BeeBee send you?”

He chuckled, coming up behind her to rub her shoulders with his massive, warm palms.

“Not precisely.” He gestured to the tray. “I found this waiting with a note about stationery when I got back to my rooms.”

“Oh, I meant to ask you about that!” She grinned. “She’s quite clever, I have to admit.”

“I also have orders that I am to transcribe some rare books from the Coruscant archives for Master Ahsoka’s library.” He sat on the bed, drawing a stack of unused leather-bound volumes from the deep pockets of his vest.

“Oh!” Rey laughed, casting her warm smile of appreciation upon his hopeful face. “I should have guessed. Your script is so beautiful.”

She rose to inspect the bound volumes in his hands, smoothing her fingers over the rich materials and fine, expertly-stitched binding.

“Will one of these do for your notes?” He questioned her eagerly, selecting a slim book of white leather etched in silver filigree and offering it to her. “I have half a dozen more - I can make something more customized if you’d prefer.”

“Of course you make your own notebooks.” She smiled, clutching the slim silver-and-white volume eagerly. The pages inside were thin but well-trimmed, the paper crisp and clean. Rey shook her head, taking up a piece of faerie cake and climbing onto the bed beside Ben. “Is there anything with which you are not well-accomplished?”

"I'm terrible at speeches. Not the easiest flaw for a prince." He hesitated for a moment, choosing to reach out and tuck away stray pieces of her hair and cup her face in his hand instead of leaning in for a kiss. “Will you rest a moment, my love?”

Setting her jaw, though she wanted nothing more than to do just that, Rey shook her head. She took her chosen notebook and returned to the desk, taking up the book she was studying and bringing it to him. “How is it possible to maintain a shield while reaching out with my magic? I can’t - I can feel it, but when I hold the shield steady, I cannot reach beyond. It’s as if… As if I can hear birds call and winds roar beyond, but I am behind a wall. How can I reach out through a wall?”

“Ahh,” Ben gave her one of his rare, genuinely excited smiles. “How do you reach out through a wall, hmm? You need a window.” He patted the bed, and she obediently crawled up to sit beside him, the book laid out between them. “Close your eyes and look. Don’t worry about a shield just now.” She settled into a cross-legged pose facing him, while he adopted the same with a rustle of wings. “Palms up, relax your shoulders.”

His rich tone soothed her, drawing out a serenity she struggled to maintain by herself. She easily sensed the energy around them, the pulse of light and dark that swirled between their heartbeats, contrasting with the steady golden glow of her new pet sleeping soundly, atop her pillow at the head of the bed.

“What do you feel?”

“Light. Dark. Warmth - and cold -” she gasped as she reached beyond her warm room with the merrily-burning hearth to the cold air of the balcony outside.

“Easy…” Warm, heavy hands came down gently to cover hers. “Reach out to me. It’s alright, I won’t hurt you.”

Inhaling deeply, she pulled her senses in and reached for that tempting warmth right before her, feeling the burn of cinnamon on her tongue and the sharp scent of pine teasing her nose.

Neither of them was prepared for the sudden, intense intimacy of the connection, Rey’s tentative fumbling invading him with a power far greater than Ben Solo was quite prepared to handle. In his arrogance, he assumed she would be like his mother or Onera, a steady current he could direct with ease, but Rey… Rey was a torrent that dragged him in and nearly overwhelmed him. He gasped as if drowning, gripping her wrists for purchase, fighting the urge to push back and smother her aggressively.

“Control it, Rey! Put your shields up!”

Her hands clutched at him just as desperately, tears leaking from her eyes as they struggled.

“I’m trying! Stop holding on so strong!”

Rey pulled. Ben pushed. Light flashed, gold and blue and red - one or both of them screamed (and the qualmi hissed) - and then darkness….


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Over a decade…” Rose peered down into her teacup, hiding the stab of pain in her gut. If they had moved sooner… If Luke and Lando had fought Hux and his men instead of running when Snoke announced his banishment… No, Paige would still be dead, and they would only have suffered the same. Would Snoke have actually executed Queen Leia’s brother and the Marquise of Cloud City? His own daughter’s uncle? “So… Luke and Lando… When they fled, they went to try and plan her rescue…?”
> 
> Poe’s face turned grim, and Queen Amilyn and the others glanced away. Only Lady Jyn met her narrowed, darkening gaze. “Why did they wait four years? Do you have any idea what Rey’s suffered? What I suffered?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!TRIGGER WARNINGS: PAST ABUSE, SEXUAL ASSAULT PTSD SYMPTOMS!!
> 
> Now if you're still reading... Sorry this chapter is stupid long, I could not find a good place to cut and I really didn't want to leave that cliffhangar for another week. I hope it's still enjoyable.
> 
> Some of you may have noticed I'm running out of SW characters and while I don't mind dipping into the EU (see Mara Jade and Kreia) I don't like just using random names of characters I'm unfamiliar with, so... I promise this isn't some MtG crossover fic, I'm just using the likenesses, but if you want to pretend some Planeswalkers just wandered into this Reylo AU, I suppose it works either way.

“So, Lord Dameron, will you be returning to New Alderaan with us, or do you have other orders?” Queen Amilyn’s tone was carefully neutral, though Poe suspected he could still see a haughtiness in her expression. She was wearing a lower-cut gown today, and the deep sapphire of her focus jewel, set at the base of her throat, gleamed in the morning sun, the white lines of the star within clear and bright. As if he needed another reminder of the power she held.

Still, there was no reason not to be polite. He was trained as a knight as well as a noble, and knew how to behave in the presence of a queen, even a seraphim sorceress. Also, his Aunt Jyn was watching him with that steely gaze, her knife and fork stilled over her breakfast.

 “Yes, Your Majesty. That is my intention, at least. I tried to contact Leia -”

 “ _Queen Leia_ , I think you mean.”

Cassian caught Poe’s eye across the table, and the tip of his boot met Poe’s threateningly underneath. He swallowed, buying himself a moment by sipping his wine.

“Yes, I beg your pardon. I tried to reach Queen Leia and the Prince with my - with Lady Jyn’s mirror last night, but neither of them were in a place to answer, so my orders are unchanged as of now.” He spared a glance for Rose, sitting quietly beside him but taking obvious interest in the conversation. Finn and Bazine had not been invited, and he had the feeling they were being tested.

 “Forgive my prying, but aren’t your orders to bring Lady Rose back to take her place as Princess Reyna’s lady? Why would your instruction have changed?” Now, her tone was undeniably contentious, and Poe took a deep breath, trying to formulate an answer, but Rose cut in before he could speak.

“Because they aren’t aware that I’m a quillan, for one,” she said, drawing a nod of interest from the Queen. “And of course, arrangements will have to be made for Finn. I’m sure Rey will understand.” 

“Are you?” The seraphine seemed surprised, but Rose nodded confidently. 

“Oh, yes. He was our friend when we were younger, and I know Rey will feel the same as I do. I trust him.”

“Hmm.” The seraphine bowed her head over her toast, seeming to be done with questioning them for the moment. 

“Will you be taking the woman, too?” Cassian asked in a low tone, directed at Rose. She glanced at Poe and he shrugged, neither of them having thought of what to do with the runaway princess. “Perhaps we should keep her here,” his uncle suggested. “Master Luminara believes she is powerless as a dannan, but she still lived in Coruscant all her life. Her information could be useful.”

“Oh no, don’t _torture_ her!” Rose looked scandalized, and even Jyn cast a frown at her husband. Poe grimaced, understanding the need to exploit every tactical advantage, but sympathetic to Rose’s horror at the thought of someone they’d traveled beside - who helped them, even if only to serve her own interest - being tortured. 

Cassian chuckled, shaking his head. “Your compassion is remarkable, lady quillan. But, no, I do not mean to harm the girl. I only noticed this morning when I went to take her breakfast, she seems to have developed a liking for our dear Lord Stryker. I thought perhaps… It could be beneficial to see what unfolds. I know the princess is seeking a noble marriage, and Master Windu has many sons.” 

“Too many,” the Queen smiled to soften the words. “And all of them winged. I’ll be taking Lucien and Teferi to New Alderaan to join the Queen’s Guard, but that still leaves Gideon and Venser. And Stryker.” She shook her head. “If Mace and Luminara are satisfied enough with her truthfulness to marry her to one of their sons, far be it from me to stand in the way. But saints help us if they have winged grandchildren…”

“Ah, let’s leave the future to worry about itself, shall we?” Cassian murmured. Jyn smirked, taking a moment to squeeze her husband’s hand, and he gave a low chuckle. “At least we have enough young people to fill the ranks of our very elite Knights of Ren.” 

“Oh, come now,” the Queen chided. “Your rangers are just as skilled, Lord Stryker among them. Leia’s plan to infiltrate Coruscant would not have happened without your combined forces. Although I thought it was somewhat unnecessary for Master Erso to test the Prince’s abilities with a duel.” 

Jyn shrugged. “It’s part of our induction. If the Prince was to present himself as a Knight of Ren, I had to be sure he could represent us according to the standards I myself set.” 

Rose’s eyes widened and she leaned forward to catch Poe’s eye from her seat between him and the Queen. “Did you really see the Prince dueling with the Master of the Knights of Ren?” 

“Leia and Amilyn wanted to use it as part of his cover, but Aunt Jyn refused until she had tested him herself.” Now this was a conversation he could add to. Eagerly, he glanced across to his aunt, hoping to cajole her into speaking. “It really was a show. I’m still not sure who was most deserving of the victory.” 

“Oh please. He had me, all he needed to do was pelt me with that feather-blade spell until my shield failed,” Jyn rolled her eyes. “You all do me no favors by insisting on a tie.” 

“Ben Solo insisted on the tie, my love,” Cassian reminded her. “Although I still believe you would have come out ahead. He was lucky to land on the wall instead of the ground when you doused his feathers.”

“I concur with Cassian,” the Queen said archly. “We seraphim tend to take our flight for granted. Fighting with wet wings is a fight against yourself as much as anything. Imagine having a heavy wet cloak dragging at your shoulders.”

“With all due respect,” Poe interjected, because he couldn’t help antagonizing the woman. “You were not there, your majesty. I’ve seen Ben fight - he’s a beast, and an onyx-imbued sorcerer. At best, Aunt Jyn had another five minutes before he gathered himself for a fire spell. My apologies, but even the greatest knight in the kingdoms is no match against a sorcerer of that kind of rank.”

“Wait a minute.” Rose was looking from Poe to the other three in confusion. “I thought… Rey was marrying Prince Kylo. I know you said he’s actually in New Alderaan, but… Who is Ben?”

“Yeah, Ben is Kylo. Obi-wan Skywalker Organa-Solo? Heir to Leia Organa-Solo?” He raised his eyebrows as Rose flushed and ducked her head to push around bits of fruit on her plate nervously. “He couldn’t just march into Snoke’s court and announce himself that way.”

“Oh,” she murmured. “Right. Obviously.”

She could only imagine Rey’s surprise when her prince revealed his true identity, and hoped she hadn’t flayed the skin off his hide. Rose had never been the cause of her ire, because Rey very rarely allowed anything to get under her skin, but she had seen the sidhe princess in a temper and her power was awe-inspiring. Thank the saints she had enough sense to kept in check before her father and step-mother, and Fazma was too banal to even know when she was the target of faerie magic.

“This plan has been in the works for over a decade,” Jyn explained. “Kira wrote to Leia when the princess was just a baby, begging for secrecy. And after Lando and the others were banished, the need to rescue her from Snoke’s control became blatantly urgent.” 

“Over a decade…” Rose peered down into her teacup, hiding the stab of pain in her gut. If they had moved sooner… If Luke and Lando had fought Hux and his men instead of running when Snoke announced his banishment… _No, Paige would still be dead, and they would only have suffered the same._ Would Snoke have actually executed Queen Leia’s brother and the Marquise of Cloud City? His own daughter’s uncle? “So… Luke and Lando… When they fled, they went to try and plan her rescue…?”

Poe’s face turned grim, and Queen Amilyn and the others glanced away. Only Lady Jyn met her narrowed, darkening gaze. “Why did they wait four years? Do you have any idea what Rey’s suffered? What I suffered?”

“No, they don’t,” the selkie knight responded with a bitter edge to her voice. “And I’m still not convinced it had to wait -”

“Luke had a vision,” Poe explained, his eyes on Rose pleading for understanding. “He believed if we attacked right then, Rey would die. We could take Coruscant - the castle, at least, but the cost would be steep. He said if we waited, there was a chance Rey could… become what she was meant to be. A queen and a sorceress and -” 

“A chance,” Jyn shook her head. “I haven’t met her, so I can’t claim to know, but four years at the hands of people who had her beaten and raped and tortured almost to death-” Her voice had started to rise, and when Cassian laid his hand over hers, she jerked it away. “No, don’t. You don’t know what it’s like. To live that way - it colors _everything_. It never leaves you-”

Rose looked up, meeting the older woman’s bitter, angry gray eyes. She was just getting accustomed to her abilities, but even the youngest quillan possessed a wealth of empathic magic. Jyn’s pain was as palpable to her as Rey’s had been, and the familiar acrid taste had shocked her into looking up. “You know.”

“I do.”

They held each other’s eyes over the table for a moment, the shared pain and rage that boiled beneath the surface of everything lessened in companionship. Rose reached out, but paused without actually touching Jyn’s hand, her silvery irises aglow with a faint light.

“I can… help.” She offered. She didn’t want to assume, but the pain she could feel was strong, and old, and she felt perhaps the older woman had suffered long enough. “I did it for Rey.” 

Jyn took a breath, looking from Rose’s outstretched hand to her kind, compassionate expression. She nodded slowly, settling back in her seat. 

“Later. This is not the place for it.” She frowned, realizing the others had all frozen to watch their interaction, Cassian eyeing her with concern and Poe looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. Her eyes found the steady, blue-violet eyes of her Queen, and the seraphine gave her knight a gentle smile. 

“I think Lord Dameron and I have logistics of travel to discuss,” Amilyn said, rising with a pointed look at the ifreet, who jumped in surprise at the mention of his name. 

“We do?” 

“If you don’t mind, I shall accompany you,” Cassian interjected, also quickly finding his feet. He gave Poe a very unsubtle nod, driving the message home. “There are some things I wish to discuss with my nephew, and I believe Your Majesty’s input might be of value, since you are accompanying them on the voyage.”

When the three of them were gone, the Queen and Cassian practically dragging Poe off the open balcony where they had met for an informal breakfast, Jyn Erso Andor heaved a relieved sigh. Rose echoed her, eyes rolling slightly at Poe’s departing form. 

“He’s very loyal to his Queen, my nephew” Jyn remarked tonelessly. Her pained expression faded into a modicum of amusement. “Not so good at diplomacy.” 

Rose shrugged. Her opinion on Poe Dameron was still unformed, though she found no argument to Jyn’s observations, she still wanted to see him at home in his own court before she made up her mind entirely on the young ifreet’s trustworthiness. 

“You said you weren’t convinced waiting was the right choice,” she encouraged. Jyn sighed, leaning forward with both arms on the table.

“What do you think? You’re the one who went through it.”

“Snoke had my sister executed for treason before the whole court for telling the truth about… everything.” She shook her head. “They put Rey on trial and… The questions! The things they said, the way they talked about her… She was _fourteen_ . And one night, I woke up to see her standing in the window asking me if I thought the fall would kill her. I stayed beside her night and day without sleeping after that, until the _trial_ was over and then… My sister… Paige was made an example of, for the rest of us. Snoke made his declaration of events, horrific lies - that it was Rey’s _fault_ and she didn’t have the proper demeanor for a queen, that Mara and Luke purposely set her up - and anyone who tried to say otherwise…”

“So he would have executed her,” Jyn said with a grim tone. Rose could only nod, reaching for a handkerchief to dry tears she hadn’t even felt slide down her face. The selkie reached out for her hand, and she gave it, clasping firmly. “When you said you could help… I knew a quillan once. You take the pain into yourself, don’t you? That’s how it works?”

“Sort of. It’s still… more distant. I feel it, but I know it’s not _my_ pain. What I feel is more like… Deep sympathy.” She looked into Jyn’s steeled eyes. “Sorrow that the world itself has such possible horrors. That life is good and beautiful, but also dark and awful, and it has to be that way because if everything was bright and good and perfect all the time, there would be no balance.”

It wasn’t easy to describe the working of magic she performed instinctively, and neither of them were sorcerers or scholars with a wealth of training and knowledge to understand the flow of energy involved.

“To stand in the light, one must cast a shadow…” Jyn mused. “None can see the path before them in the dark of the void.”

“I feel like I have heard that before…” Rose looked down at her scaled hands, flexing the delicate claws at the tip of her fingers. “In a dream or… something.”

“I learned it from another quillan, a long time ago,” the Knight said, watching Rose with interest. “His name was Chirrut.” 

“Yes.” Whatever individuality she had as a person, quillan were not mortal, their unbound spirits dwelled with the gods and saints in the heavenly seas above. A part of her that she was never really aware of before remained joined to those spirits, sharing the ancestral memories and experiences of every quillan to walk the mortal realm, and it gave a face and form to the name. Rose smiled. “He was a temple guardian. Kind and brave.” 

“What happens when quillan die? Do you go to the underworld or -”

“For a time. It depends, I think… But eventually, we return to the divine realm.” She shrugged. “As far as my kind go, I’m not even an adult, so I’m not really the best person to ask… Try me again in a hundred years,” she added with a little laugh.

“I will, if we’re all lucky enough to survive this mess.” The selkie frowned, raising her teacup to empty the dregs with a grimace for the bitter taste. Then she offered Rose her hand. “You’ll stop if I ask?”

“Yes, of course!”

Gently, she folded both hands around Jyn’s and closed her eyes, breathing in the exterior calm and the hardness beneath. No wonder the selkie was such a renowned warrior - she carried it well, but Rose could feel the cold fury lurking in her heart, constrained by years of frustration and bitterness.

“You’re from Onderon,” she said with a gasp. Even in her sheltered life, Rose had heard of the seedy port, catering to pirates and offering nearly every luxury a person fresh from long months on the sea could want. Including quite a few things that were highly illegal in the rest of the world, in Coruscant and Peragus as well as the Alliance Nations. She winced at some of the images she witnessed in Jyn’s memory.

“Not originally. My father worked for Emperor Palpatine, but when they found out my mother was pregnant…” her eyes were closed too, and Rose could see the images of a very young Jyn Erso, fleeing alone from a rickety farmhouse while knights in white armor attacked her parents with cold iron blades. “They tried to flee, but the Dark Lords were powerful, and they wanted my father’s expertise. I was on my own after that.”

“And - your sister, Shara?” Rose could see them, a slightly older Jyn wrapping a torn, stolen cloak around the younger selkie’s shoulders.

“Not my blood. We met at the docks, both trying to get on with a ship.” A swell of bitterness rose, choking both of them before Rose carefully gave a little mental _tug_ , adding some distance to the memory of how Jyn and Shara had convinced the crew to take them on.

“Always room for a selkie on a pirate ship,” she said grimly. “The older captains like to secure their legacy, and the younger ones… need to ease their stress.”

When she had done the best she could to siphon away some of the rage and shame associated with Jyn’s introduction to pirating, Rose opened her eyes and released the knight’s hand.

“You did this for your princess, too?”

“She had nightmares so often, I slept in her bed at least twice a week.” Rose frowned, brows creasing as she thought of Rey, alone in the court at New Alderaan. “That combined with the sedatives Kreia’s physicians gave her… She was alright most of the time. Rey is resilient and really quite smart, I know she can be a good queen. Compassionate, attentive, loyal to her people… just like your Queen Amilyn.”

“You’re worried about her now, afraid all of these changes will be too much,” Jyn said sympathetically. Rose nodded, relieved to find someone who could understand her concerns without fear they would twist her words against her, or Rey.

“If she has a bad night, or a flashback with no one there she can trust to take care of her -” Jyn squeezed her hand, catching and holding her eyes.

“Listen to me, Rose. You can trust Ben. He’s always been a bit moody and quick-tempered, but I’ve known him since birth. He’d as soon slice off his own wings as hurt someone he cares for.” She paused, glancing away over the balcony to the slightly-clouded sky line. “I spoke to him myself, before he took on this mission. I wanted to be sure, and… Believe me, I’m sure. Queen Leia may be imposing, but she has a kind heart, too. They’re not like the nobles in Coruscant at all. They’ll keep her safe.”

“Thank you,” Rose replied sincerely. “Lord Dameron keeps telling me everything will be fine, but… it feels more real, coming from you.”

“You’re welcome.” The selkie smiled, rising to her feet and sweeping Rose a low bow, hand on the hilt of her sheathed cutlass. “Should you ever need allies, the Knights of Ren are at your service.”

 

 

Ben Solo was flying, or perhaps he was falling. Neither sensation was unusual for him, but his instinctive reaction was to stretch out his wings, angling them to catch the strongest updraft, and the results of that movement left him confused. He was definitely stilled, but now he wasn’t sure he had been in the air at all, especially giving the brush of fabric and dull thud and splash of a spilled pitcher, followed by fluent cursing. He recognized the voices arguing, and with a great effort, he managed to force his eyes open, feeling with his hands that he was in a bed, a large bed and -

Smooth skin and coiled heat met his searching fingers, and he realized with a start that Rey shared his sickbed. For some reason, the thought brought with it a flood of relief, and then he remembered - the shielding lesson, his idiotic blundering and Rey’s overwhelming power -

“- seraphim always have to be so dramatic, it must be some kind of natural gift -”

“It’s not the seraphim, _your worship_ , it’s your family -”

“Oh, get out of the way, he’s waking up - Han, clean that up and get some fresh water, please?” A copper-skinned, antler-crowned face swam into Ben’s field of view, a clawed hand reaching out to test his brow. “Leia, their clothes, please.”

Embarrassment flooded him as he realized he was nearly naked, Rey’s warm body and soft skin draped over his chest, her bare breasts pressed between them. Possessiveness filled him and his wings stretched, drawing around them even as Ahsoka tried unsuccessfully to bat them away.

“Welcome back, my Lord Prince,” the lamia grumbled. “It’s okay, don’t thank me for saving you or anything.”

“Why are we _naked_?” He growled, dragging Rey up further into his concealing embrace. She was still unconscious, though he felt her steady breath on his neck and her eyelids fluttered restlessly when he moved her. “What - what happened?”

“You would know better than I do,” Ahsoka snapped. Several pieces of fabric sailed over the top of his wings and he slowly separated them out into his shirt and Rey’s diaphanous dressing gown.

“Here, put your clothes on so we can talk,” his mother’s voice ordered. “Han, hurry up with that water!”

“Give us… A minute,” Ben said slowly. He managed to get his shirt over his shoulders, but lacked the dexterity to do up the laces under his wings. Rey stirred as he lifted her, sliding the robe over her arms as gently as he could.

“Ben?” She murmured. _Please, please be alright!_

He stilled, peering down at the woman in his arms, her bleary eyes searching anxiously over him before she reached up a hand and touched his face. He winced under the slight pressure, and Rey gasped, her hand moving to cup his cheek.

“Oh, my love! Did I hurt you?” A sudden rush of fear filled his mind, and he had the disorienting view of himself through her eyes, the long, jagged scar reaching down his face, over his chin and shoulder, only missing his eye due to the sharp angles of his face. He pressed a kiss to her thankfully unharmed forehead, then worriedly ran his hands over the rest of her body checking for injuries or bruises.

Rey hissed and pulled back when he ran a hand down her arm, and she turned her wrist over carefully under his anxious gaze, both of them gasping. From the base of her palm all the way to her elbow was a perfect, fire-branded image of a feather, each individual strand seared on her skin in perfect, pink-scarred detail.

“Oh, Rey… I… I’m sorry.” His voice caught hoarsely as he continued to stare at the blatant evidence of his arrogant mistake, a permanent piece of him indelibly blazed into her very skin.

Warmth flooded him as Rey gazed downward, and he was shocked to see a slight smile turning her lips upward. “Well, if I’m to have a scar, I can think of nothing more beautiful to wear.”

She tilted his face towards her with the hand still resting on his cheek, eyes filled with the same warmth he had felt pour into him moments ago. He leaned down, and Rey leaned in, pressing her lips firmly to his, as he responded instinctively, releasing her wrist to slide his hands over her waist.

There was a polite but distinct cough from beyond the curtain of black feathers, and Rey jerked away from him, her cheeks crimson. “Is that -”

“Yes, Your Highness,” came Ahsoka’s wry voice. “We are all here awaiting your pleasure to continue tending whatever damage you’ve inflicted upon each other in your careless experimenting.”

Rey’s eyes widened, and she fell back into Ben’s protective embrace, holding her robe around her firmly as he folded his wings back to reveal the impatient sorceress as well as the Queen herself, looking upon them with scarcely-concealed impatience.

“Here, water.” A new voice sounded from behind Leia, and Rey gulped. She had never seen this man before, but she would know him in a crowd instantly. That lopsided smile, the gruff tone of his voice, the tender way he met her eyes before quickly looking down. Ben’s father cut quite the figure, his clothing finer, but in the same style as the selkie traders she had seen before, worn leather jacket, tight-fitting trousers, a wide sealskin belt that held both a dagger and a pistol, and a handsome, rugged face that almost hid the gentleness of his light eyes.

“Hello, Princess,” he greeted her with a smirk and a nod. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Han.”

Rey laughed. “I know who you are.”

“Well, now that that’s over,” Leia interrupted quickly. “Let’s move on to more important things. Are either of you injured? Internal bruising, headaches, vision loss?”

Together they looked each other over, with that strange dizzying sensation of seeing themselves through each other’s eyes, before Rey shook her head. “I think we’re okay…”

 _Rey._ This time he purposely tried to project a feeling into her mind - his curiosity and awe at this strange connection they seemed to have forged, and Rey gasped. Unbidden, her hand reached up to cover her mouth as she stared at him in wonder.

_You can hear me, then?_

“Oh, yes.” She didn’t realize she had spoken out loud until she caught Ahsoka and Leia giving them confused looks.

“Well, I don’t think we’re _hurt_ ,” Ben began slowly. “But somehow, we’re in each other’s heads. If I concentrate, I can feel Rey’s emotions, see myself through her eyes.”

Ahsoka turned to Rey speculatively. “And can you -?”

“Yes. I can hear Ben talking to me telepathically.”

“Hmm.” Ahsoka frowned at them both, but made no further comment. “Any other… oddities?”

“Not that I’ve noticed -” Ben started, but Rey gave a little yelp, cutting him off. Wide hazel eyes gazed up at him and then over to Ahsoka.

“Ben, I can…” She closed her eyes. “I can do the shielding now. And reaching out, and -” She lifted her hand, and the water jug rose from the King’s hands, floating through the air into Rey’s grasp. “I can’t explain it, I just… I think I stole some of his memories…”

Rey poured a little water from the jug over her hand, all of them watching in awe as it morphed into ice and then back to water when she directed it to return the jug.

“Hmm. Elemental restaging.” Ahsoka’s lips twitched. “Impressive.”

“Rey!” Ben gasped suddenly, his arms closing around her even as his family started to speak up, discussing her absorption of his memories. Rey yelped as he clutched her tightly, wings once again coming up to shield them from the rest of the room.

“Everyone out!” Ben growled, his face buried in her hair. “Get out, _now_!”

“What -”

“Ben -”

Concerned, Rey reached purposely, fumbling for his mind, and the source of his sudden collapse made itself brutally evident. Tears filled her eyes and she whimpered against him, snaking both arms around his neck as if clinging to him for her very life.

“It’s best if you go,” she said quietly. “He has… my memories, too.”

“What memories -?” Han started, but was quickly hushed by both Leia and Ahsoka.

“When you’re ready, send for me,” the sorceress whispered before shoving the King and Queen firmly shutting the door and leaving them blessedly alone. She could hear them arguing in her sitting room, Han demanding to know more, before Ahsoka raised her voice and magnified it with a command spell, telling them they would both leave _now_.

“ _Rey_.” Ben drew her attention back as he moaned into her hair, weeping openly and rocking her gently in his embrace, unable to find the words. It didn’t matter. She knew, she could feel him. His mind was an incoherent storm, half agonizing pain, half red with rage.

 _You can’t change it,_ her mind whispered. _Please, I’ve re-lived it enough._

_I’m sorry. I’m so - Rey -_

_Stop it. Please, please._ She kissed his neck with desperate intensity, trying to drag him out of the hell of her own memories. Her hands carded through his hair, gripping hard, silently begging as her mouth trailed up his jaw, to nip sharply at his earlobe and trace her tongue behind it.

_Please, Ben._

He responded, finally, groaning under the onslaught of her tongue and teeth, releasing his death grip to smooth his hands down her shoulders and hungrily seek her mouth. There was a desperate edge to his kiss, an intensity that Rey knew well and matched with her own heated need. She slipped her legs around his hips, straddling his lap, and slipped her hands under the loose fabric of his shirt, feeling the muscles moving beneath his warm skin.

_Rey, we don’t have to -_

_I want to. I need to._ She drew back until he opened his eyes at her wordless request.

“Don’t you understand now? I need you. I need you to hold me and love me and…” she was interrupted by more of his fervent kisses, this time on her neck and shoulders, hot and bruising. “Make it go away. Please, Ben.”

“Yes,” he whispered into every kiss. “Anything you want, Rey. I love you -” His mouth reached her breasts and he pushed back her robe to suck her nipple into his mouth.

“I adore you -” He lifted her, dragging her body up to settle over his shoulders. “Let me show you how much -” She closed her eyes as his hot mouth and slippery tongue explored her folds, rising up on her knees to give him more room.

 _Oh, gods…_ Having him between her legs like this was nothing new, but being on top of him, where he had no choice but to continue pleasuring her until she was ready to stop was quite different. _I think I like this. Are you okay?_

_Don’t worry about me. Do as you like._

_Anything?_ She adjusted her hips to thrust against him, gently, lifting her hands to the headboard for support. Panting hard, her hips chased his tongue, pressing down and moaning as he filled her with one finger, then two. “Is this okay?”

_I can do this all day._

Ben was true to his word, bringing her to climax multiple times, until she had to pull herself away, swollen and over sensitive. Then he switched gears, rolling her gently to her stomach as he proceeded to massage her entire body with his strong hands, all the way down to the soles of her feet.

When he was done with that, he ran her a bath and carried her there, washing her hair as well as her body with gentle hands. Rey knew he was trying, in his own way, to cope with the shocking agony of suffering all her trauma at once, but she let him pamper her. If it helped him get past it, it helped her, too, knowing that her future husband had first-hand knowledge of what she’d suffered, what triggered her moods and bouts of depression and was happy to help soothe her as much as he was able.

“I wish we were married already,” Rey murmured as she lay against his chest in the oversized tub, full of wonderfully fragrant soap and a smattering of dried flowers, the inky shadow of his wings enclosing them again in their own tiny bubble. Apparently he did get them wet on occasion, just not in salt water or deep, swiftly-moving currents, and there was an odd, earthy scent to the wet feathers mixed in with the flowery bath water.

Ben kissed the top of her head, letting out a deep sigh. “Me too.”

“Ben,” she began after a long silence, startling him out of a half sleep. “What are the Trials like?”

“Hmmm… It depends. It’s different for everyone. You go through the sacred arch and you make offerings to your chosen saints or gods or whoever… And they test you.” She could see the image in his mind, the great overgrown _uteni_ trees, woven together and carved with ancient glyphs and the empty stone altar behind it.

“You made an offering to Anakin Skywalker?” She hissed in surprise. After all his talk of his grandfather falling to the Dark Lords and his parents’ fear that his black wings meant he’d do the same, she couldn’t believe it. But it was there in his memory, a small portrait of the tall seraph with his hands on the shoulders of his short, dark-haired wife.

“And Padme Amidala, yes. My uncle and Ahsoka believe that he redeemed himself before he died and… If you want to know about Anakin, you should ask Ahsoka. He was her mentor,” he suggested gently. “I just know… It felt right. I was preparing to face the Master of the Knights of Ren in ritual combat, so I could start working with our allies in Ren to come rescue you and I thought… They loved each other, before she died they were actually happy and my parents are _never_ happy, so…”

“You wanted their help because… you wanted our marriage to be happy?” She turned around to stare at him incredulously, giggling at his wide, guileless eyes.

“Why is that funny to you? Do you not care if we’re happy?”

“Oh, no, please!” She took his face between her hands. “Of course I want us to be happy! Forgive me, my gentle love… I simply did not expect you to be such a romantic!”  


“I wasn’t sure,” he said, taking her hand in his and rubbing his thumb over the back of it while he stared down into the water between them. “My mother made a vow to Queen Kira when you were born and I was… Ten, I think? At the time it was just this… nebulous chore for the future, I didn’t think much of it. But as I grew older, I figured out what marriage really is and I was… terrified. I wanted to return with Lando and Lady Mara immediately when they told us - I wanted to lead the charge! I still want to dismember Armitage Hux piece by -”

“No.” Rey’s eyes flared as he looked to her, surprise flickering over his face at her soft, emphatic whisper. “No, my lord. Hux is _mine_. I don’t care what happens to Kreia or Fazma or even my father - be as cruel as you like to them. But if you reach him before I do - if anyone does - I want him captured alive.”

“Rey…” His words faltered at the sheer, terrifying glow of rage and hate in her eyes. “Okay. I’ll make sure he’s… yours to dispatch…”

She nodded, sobbing with a sudden rush of emotion, and Ben could feel it rising in her, anguish quickly overwhelmed by relief as he secured her once again against his chest.

“Tell me more about your Trials and ascension. You made your offering and then what?”

“Nothing at first. I just knelt there and meditated for hours and then… When I was completely bored and exhausted, the visions came. I don’t remember them all,” he said slowly warming to the story. “You were in some of them. I knew it was you as soon as I saw you. There were these… creatures, demons and Fomori and hags - all sorts of monsters. And you stood at my back with a white sword of the purest light and we fought together. Other times there were no battles, just puzzles I had to solve, long dark hallways with thousands of doors and I had to find the right one.”

“That sounds… daunting…” she murmured uncertainly.

Ben could feel the anxiety building in her chest and stroked her shoulders gently, soothing her. He had no doubt, now, that Rey was destined for greatness, having gained his own ascension he recognized the potential for it deep within her spirit. Carefully, he reached for her mind again, trying his best to ease her fears, to show her what he felt and saw.

“It’s not as hard as it sounds. You were meant for greatness.” He kissed her hair and naked shoulders affectionately. “I’ve seen it, Rey.”

“Maybe…”

“You still have time. Ahsoka will help you. Luke will help. And I’ll be with you too.” Ben’s voice was low, and he sensed her feelings of love and security in response to the vibration rumbling against her. “The most important part if figuring out who to petition.”

“Hmmm.” Rey sighed, relaxation and exhaustion taking her over. “I have some… thoughts on that…”

She yawned, and Ben kissed her hair again. “Let’s go back to bed. It’s not often I get an excuse to lie around all day, but I think this time they’ll let us.”

Rey hummed in agreement, too tired to bother with an actual response as he scooped her into his arms and found a towel, then carried her back into their bed. She settled against him with a contented sigh, allowing sleep to overtake her until they woke again for the sacred hour.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally... I really feel like I shouldn't have to justify my writing, but let me be clear in case someone decides I'm being insensitive: 1. I am a trauma/rape survivor myself. 2. This is my fiction, and I am allowed to cope with my experiences however I wish. Not all survivors have the same fears/triggers, people really do vary widely in reaction and coping skills. And that's all I have to say about that. I love you all and thanks for reading!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thought Bazine was the clever one, and she had encouraged that image well with her sharp tongue and judgmental stares. She was also easier on the eyes, of course, and that helped keep the nobles’ attention as much as anything. But Fazma was clever, too. Clever enough to know when to hold her tongue, to let them assume she was a bit slower, a bit less adept at intrigue, leaving her plenty of time to learn weaponry and forms and horsemanship and archery. Skills that she meant to put to good use, more certain and deadly than any “proper” lady’s skills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for imprisonment and really slimy but consexual Hux/Fazma... Not in the same scene, fortunately.

Finn accepted the pair of knights assigned to him without question, although he wondered a bit at the efficiency on a sea voyage. They were aloof and cool with him at first, simply ordering him around with as little interaction as possible, but that changed when Rose came to visit the brig, righteous indignation at his confinement flaring around her as a visible glow in the dim light.

“Lord Teferi?” She addressed the dark-skinned, blue-winged seraph standing to the left of the cell door. At his nervous nod, Rose continued. “I was told you are in charge here.”

“Ah. Yes, lady quillan. I am Teferi Unduli-Windu, at your service.” He swept her a deep bow, compensating for the hesitation in his response, and Rose pursed her lips.

“What can we do for you, Lady Rose?” The other faerie guard, a nyxie with deep purple skin and emerald-edged wings was supposedly Lord Teferi’s younger brother, although he had an almost-haughty tone, brazenly addressing her by her first name. Rose’s eyes narrowed at the familiarity, taking in the young man’s long weapon, an obsidian halberd, held across the doorway to bar her entrance.

“You can remove yourselves,” she snapped, glaring at him. “I assure you, Finn will not harm me.”

“We will be just upstairs,” Lord Teferi agreed, turning to eye his brother. “Lucien. Come on.”

“Are you both mad? He’s a Fomorian! I’m not leaving her here alone with him -”

“I was alone with him all of last night,” Rose murmured, casting a sly smirk at the nyxie’s obvious shock. “And here I am unharmed.”

“That - that doesn’t -” The young knight gaped at her, his green eyes darting between her and Finn incredulously. “I heard the rumors, but there’s no way -”

“ _Lucien_!” His brother hissed from the stairs.

“Alright, alright.” He gave Rose a scathing glance as he passed her. “Some quillan you are.”

She let it go, hearing his brother immediately berate the nyxie as he stepped out onto the deck to wait. Finn sighed, coming as close to the iron bars as he dared while Rose huffed irritably, casting a disgusted look at the pitiful conditions of the ship’s brig.

“It’s so dark in here, I can hardly see you.”

“I can see you,” he smiled widely. “You know you’re glowing, right?”

She spared a glance down over her body, clad in a rich outfit of soft leather breeches, a long hooded cloak and a well-starched, dark grey blouse. Since her transformation, Rose had refused shoes, and even on the slippery wooden deck, she stood perfectly balanced on her delicate cloven hooves. One faintly-glowing hand was splayed out before her and she examined it carefully, turning her wrist and curling her slender talons inward.

“Good gods! Well, that’s different.” She shook her head, stepping closer to look over his cell with a critical eye. “They say it’s only two days to New Alderaan, but I still dislike like seeing you locked up.”

“I know. It’s alright, Rose. I’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Please don’t - don’t make it an issue, okay? We have no idea what’s going to happen when we get there, so let’s just try to be as cooperative as possible.”

“Poe tried to get in touch with Leia and the Prince last night but couldn’t reach them.” She bit her lip worriedly. “And I feel something… strange going on with Rey. I can always sense her, but now it’s like a stronger pull, like a weight around my heart. I’m worried, Finn.”

“I’m sure Rey’s fine. She’s probably just lonely in that big castle without you to watch her back and make snide jokes about all the 'fine' ladies.” He was trying to lighten the mood, and she smiled slightly, but it didn’t smoothe the worried crease along her brows. “It’s just a couple of days, Rose. The best thing we can do is cooperate and learn everything we can about Ben Solo and the court of New Alderaan. You always did have a good memory for names and titles, maybe you can learn something helpful by listening to Queen Amilyn.”

“Oh, Finn,” she shook her head. “You know I’m no good with people! I am a quillan, but I’ve spent most of my life as a servant, I don’t know how to consort with nobility. I don’t even know what the proper protocol is for someone like me. Everyone has been so deferential, even the Queen, and I am not used to… doing society… I mean,” she shook her head, chuckling at her poor choice of words. “I don’t know where to stand, or how to speak properly -”

Finn chuckled, and they shared a smile over her nervous babbling. Rose waved her hands in a gesture meant to encompass her whole situation. “You see what I mean?”

What he wanted most was to hold her, to touch her and caress her hair and weave his fingers through hers and assure her that it would all work out, but he had to make do with carefully-chosen words.

“Rose, look at me.” His breath caught when she met his eyes, air escaping his chest all at once, along with whatever clever words he had gathered to say. “You’re so beautiful, so special… I don’t think anyone knows what’s proper for you. But maybe if you just go back to who you’ve always been - Just Lady Rose, handmaid to the Princess, clever-handed, always cheerful, gentle and kind and determined - just yourself, is enough.”

She laughed. “You really think I’m all those things? Gentle and kind and determined?”

“I know you are. And I know everyone else will see that too.” He grimaced at the bars between them, his hands fisted at his sides, and he could see Rose licking her lips and fiddling absently with the handmade pearl bracelet on her wrist. “Once they know you, they can’t help but be on your side. Our side. You’ve already got Poe, and ifreet aren’t exactly known for their loyalty.”

“Okay, alright.” She took a deep breath. “Just be myself.”

“You can do it, Rose.”

“I need you to work on the guards. They’re Knights of Ren meant to join up with Leia Organa’s Queen’s Guard. Her personal forces are overseen by Lady Sabine Wren.” She gave Finn a piercing stare. “Lady Sabine is Poe’s commander, too. If we want Queen Leia to accept us and not cast you into the dungeons, we need your captors to give a good report to Sabine.”

He frowned. The seraph, Teferi, had been mostly civil, but he didn’t know how he was supposed to win over Lord Lucien, who clearly hated him without the least provocation.

“Finn, Queen Amilyn and Poe Dameron were both won over by… us. Even Lord Cassian noticed your… devotion to me.” She flushed, breaking eye contact. “So I think if you just… Keep cooperating, but make our feelings clear -”

“I can do that.” He grinned. “I can definitely do that.”

  
  


“I don’t see how this changes anything,” Fazma grumbled, looking over the report from Hux’s spies once again. She couldn’t believe her mother had somehow failed to notice the existence of a legendary beast beneath her own roof, but the woman was gone now, along with her brain-addled mistress. “I didn’t expect him to make it past the border, really, although the intel on Ren would have been helpful.”

“Yes, well, your _formless_ brethren seems to be a traitor. He allowed the girl and our hostage to escape.” Armitage sneered. “I have to admit, I didn’t think it was possible for them to think for themselves.”

“This one could. It’s why I chose him for the mission. I suppose Bazine got to him.” She shrugged. It was unfortunate, her enlightened brother had been a useful tool and she might have attempted to rescue him from the Knights of Ren, but the missive described him leaving the day after next in the brig of a ship travelling across the Inner Sea. “No doubt the authorities in New Alderaan will dispatch him for us.”

“And what if they don’t? How much do your troops know about our plans?”

“Very little.” That _particular_ formless knew more than the rest, and could probably provide information to their enemies if they were able to question him, but she saw no reason to agitate Hux any further. It was out of their hands now, the quillan and the traitor would do whatever they would do - conspire with the Alliance, build armies, cast their faerie magics - and defeat Coruscant’s forces or fail as fate willed it. But Fazma intended to survive, regardless of the war’s outcome, and despite his rather frail and unattractive appearance, the ginger-haired dannan was a cunning strategist. She needed him to trust her, for now at least.

“Hmm. You had better hope so,” he murmured, lifting a hand to trace over her bare skin, down her neck and shoulder to where the silk sheet covered her bare chest. Fazma stiffened as he squeezed her breast through the fabric, thin fingers no doubt leaving more bruises on her body. He could mark her however he wanted, believe it gave him some claim over her just as her parents’ cruelty had been intended to control her. It didn’t matter, she would never belong to anyone but herself, and they would all find out eventually just how much loyalty their abuse had earned them.

“You had better hope Bazine is as loyal to you as you think.” Fazma retorted. Inwardly, she rolled her eyes. Even their mother had known better than to trust her sister with secrets, but Hux was a fool when it came to women. If only she’d known a bit sooner how easy he was to manipulate, she would have taken him to her bed much earlier.

Bazine had gotten to Hux first, unfortunately, but she had nothing to bring to the table besides her own physical endowments and petty scheming. It wasn’t too difficult to secure his alliance, once she figured out his deepest desires, and the castle defenses did not suffer much over the loss of Lord Brendol. Their plans would have been much easier if her sister was just as unperceptive as Armitage’s father, but unfortunately, she had the good sense to flee before General Hux could wed her.

Moreover, she had the gaul to take their captive, the Alliance spy who had slipped in amidst the activity surrounding Prince Kylo’s visit, and Fazma’s pet formless with her. And left the quillan alive as well, though she couldn’t fault her sister for that, a contest between Fomori and quillan would inevitably result in death for the dark _faerie_. Just the knowledge of such a beast living among them for so long sent shivers of fear down Fazma’s spine.

She rose from her bed with a discarded fur wrapped around her naked form, and fed the missive into the fire, watching it burn and wondering if she should bother broaching the subject of the divine creature with her mother. If anyone were to bring it with Snoke, she mused, it should be his general’s responsibility, not his daughter’s, but Kreia… Fazma forced herself to remain pliant when Armitage came up behind her, running his cold hands over her body. _Possessive bastard._

“This all would have been so much easier if you hadn’t given us away to my sister. Once you were wed, I would have been able to slip into the background, eliminate Snoke and pave the way for you to become Prince-Consort.”

Everyone thought Bazine was the clever one, and she had encouraged that image well with her sharp tongue and judgmental stares. She was also easier on the eyes, of course, and that helped keep the nobles’ attention as much as anything. But Fazma was clever, too. Clever enough to know when to hold her tongue, to let them assume she was a bit slower, a bit less adept at intrigue, leaving her plenty of time to learn weaponry and forms and horsemanship and archery. Skills that she meant to put to good use, more certain and deadly than any “proper” lady’s skills.

“And I have no doubt that you would have succeeded beautifully,” Armitage murmured, lips moving along the back of her neck. Fazma suppressed a shudder. She had no idea how Bazine had managed to put up with his attentions for so long. As it was, her only enjoyment at the moment was mild amusement that he had to stand practically on his toes to kiss her. “But now you will be queen with a single strike, and once you’re crowned, we can move against your mother.”

“Hmm.” Unlike Hux, she had no illusions of Kreia being so easily dispatched. Bazine may have taken after her in looks and physical charms, but Fazma had been taught the same lessons as her sister. Even if she was content to let someone else ask questions, she had still listened attentively to Kreia, to her words and the unspoken lines between them. Right now, they needed both of her parents alive to keep order among the Fomori hordes. Once the war was over, and her father dispatched, she would decide upon her actions towards freeing herself of her mother’s influence. Perhaps she would get lucky, and the coming war would take them all.

Until then, she would listen, and learn.

“You don’t trust me.” The General’s pale eyes looked hurt, and she let out a startled laugh.

“Surely you jest, my lord. Do you expect me to believe that I have your trust? We aren’t even wed. Tomorrow I could speak to my mother against you, and perhaps taking her side would benefit me.” She stared him down, a carefully neutral expression on her face, until he shook off her gaze and took hold of her hand. He kissed her palm and wrist, before going to one knee before her. “I ought to tell her about the quillan.”

“You won’t. Your parents will always control you if you let them.” Well, he would know, she had already helped him be rid of his own father. She watched with gradually widening eyes as his mouth and fingers trailed over her skin, stifling an unexpected moan. Armitage glanced up, a flash of victory in his eyes. “You like that?”

She could only nod. Letting him into her body was one thing - she was good at being still and quiet, and Bazine was right, the men didn’t seem to care much as long as she made pleasing sounds once in a while - but other than a sort of warmth and flush of the skin, it hadn’t been particularly pleasant. But this… This was different.

“Trust me, Fazma. I can give you so much - together we can take over Coruscant, and then -” He slid his hands around her muscular thigh, lifting her leg over his shoulder, and his tongue moved over her, drawing out more of her little choked breaths. “We’ll take Peragus and the iron mines. Arm our soldiers with cold iron, build a kingdom truly free of _magic_ and the high-and-mighty _fae_.”

Fazma gripped his hair in her long fingers, holding his face against her, leg braced and taught over his shoulder. She opened her eyes to peer down, seeing only his shock of ginger hair and pale shoulders, and decided she liked him this way.

“Yes,” she found herself agreeing. A world without magic. Without her parents. Freedom to do as she pleased, and power to take whatever she wanted. “Yes, keep - keep doing that -”

“An empire,” he gasped. “You will be - my queen - my empress -”

“You will kneel before me,” she agreed in between panting breaths. “Like this -”

“Yes.” He groaned against her, and she realized he had one hand below, pumping his shaft while he sucked and licked her sex. _This_ … This she could do. Often. As often as she could make him…

“More,” she hissed in her most commanding voice. “Use your fingers - satisfy me before you see to yourself!”

For a moment, she thought he might not, she knew what kind of man he was when she took him to her bed, and had no reason to expect he would cater to her needs, but… Fazma was strong, and this position was not in his favor. She could… she could make him, or at least threaten to. And there would be no guilt or shame in that, as far as she knew he deserved it a hundred times over, but… She really did need his allegiance. At least for now.

“Do it, Armitage.”

“My Empress…” the words were a hoarse whisper, and she knew she had him then. It surprised her how right her sister and mother were in their assertions that men could be controlled from the bedroom. She had the general of their entire army on his knees, pleasuring her in ways she’d not imagined in her wildest dreams, obedient to her commands. And he certainly seemed to want to be there.

She scratched his scalp and shouted his name when she crested, and he lapped up the slick between her legs and then begged her to do the same for him, but he didn’t complain when she refused to put her mouth anywhere near it. Indeed, he was ecstatic with gratitude just for the lazy glide of her hand, and his eyes followed her with something like affection - if he was capable of such an emotion - when she mopped him up with the cloth from her water basin.

Of course, he slept soon after, but Fazma had no real desire to share a bed with anyone. She was tall, and broad, and relished the space to sprawl without someone else clutching the comforter and smothering her with their heat.

She dressed and sat at her hearth, polishing her sword and the various knives she kept about her person, and then she went for a walk along the battlements, checking in on the night guards, before she settled into the command tower to endure the middle hour. He could pleasure her, kneel for her and promise to make her an empress, but Fazma had been listening when Kreia spoke, and her most repeated bit of advice to her daughters was simple.

_Trust that everyone will betray you. Perhaps they won’t, but it’s best to be pleasantly surprised._

She locked the heavy door and threw the bolt, reclining in her seat with her boots upon the table, her favorite pistol in her lap and a crossbow set with a cold iron bolt at her side. Sleep crept over her, and Fazma welcomed it, secure in the familiar, fortified haven she had built for herself decades ago. Perhaps it was unnecessary. Perhaps she was paranoid. Perhaps General Hux would defeat the armies of the faerie kingdoms, and Snoke would fall to her arrow, and Kreia soon after.

Or perhaps she would be pleasantly surprised.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, writing that last part made me feel gross, like I need to go take a bubble bath and listen to some soothing music. *shudder* I'll try to get Ch 22 up some time this week, I promise it's much more fun!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I’m glad I meet with your approval, but we have something else to discuss while we walk.” Rey blinked up at him in surprise, but Ben kept moving, his eyes focused on the path ahead of them. “Your lady, Rose Tico. Were you aware of what she is?”
> 
> “What? Rose is a dannan - a lovely, brilliant dannan, but -”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to cleanse my pallet after the last chapter, so enjoy more of dragon-unicorn Rose charming everyone :)

“Alright, one more time,” Ahsoka instructed, watching Rey shift the magically-contained ball of water between her hands. Steam, water, ice, water, mist.”

Rey focused on the element between her hands, feeling the cool of the water with her mind, encouraging it to higher and higher temperatures, until she felt the weight of it changed and had to shift her focus to keep the scalding substance from burning her fingers. Breathing deeply to center herself, she worked it through its other stages, back to liquid, then a solid block of ice radiating coldness into her bones, and finally the most nebulous form, the vapor of gentle dampness spread out and mixed evenly with the air.

“Good, you can let it go now.”

Rey opened her eyes to see her mentor smiling, and allowed herself a relieved sigh, having done the exercise perfectly twice in a row.

“Now. Fire doesn’t really have distinct  _ forms _ , per say, it’s not an element in the strictest sense, but there is a bit of a trick to conjuring it. Once you’ve achieved that, we can practice more precise control, how long and hot it will burn, igniting targets further away and so forth.” She leaned forward, taking Rey’s hand and arranging her fingers just so. “Now, focus on the air around your hand, make it reactive, agitated, and then…  _ snap! _ ”

She did, gasping in shock as sparks flew every which way from her fingers and she had to quickly brush down her clothes to keep the embers from ruining the fine garments. Ahsoka chuckled, watching Rey’s frantic movements.

“Now I see why you all insist upon working in the basement,” the sidhe mused, grateful for the lack of carpeting and furniture to catch her sparks. She frowned down at her fingers, trying to figure out what she’d done wrong. “Right, let me try again… agitate the air…”

“Think of it as if your rubbing a stick between your hands to start a fire. Very fast, repetitive motion. Don’t spark until you ‘feel’ smoke.”

Well, that might have been more helpful if Rey knew how to start a fire with sticks in the first place, but she tried anyway.  _ Fast, repetitive motion. _ Her ears swiveled forward as she concentrated, alert for the finest shift in air currents while she glared down at the space above her tensed fingers, willing it to be hot… An idea formed in her mind, a very  _ naughty _ idea. She had never started a fire, so she didn’t know what kind of rubbing that required, but she could think of another kind she was familiar with…

The air above her hand grew warm, almost scalding, and Rey snapped her fingers more confidently. This time the flame caught, flaring to life in a much larger amount than she expected, and she jumped, nearly losing control of it.

“Easy, keep it in your hand, feel the tension of your will around it like an oven glove…” Ahsoka grinned as Rey regarded the merrily dancing flame in her palm with awe in her eyes. “Perfect. Alright, kid. I think that’s good for today, you’ve done very well. Keep practicing with the water and fire and I shall expect to see you here tomorrow at the same time.”

Somewhat regretfully, Rey banished the flame and climbed to her feet, stretching muscles that ached from hours of sitting on the cold stone floor of Ahsoka’s workroom. “Yes, Master. I’ll be here.”

She was halfway to the door when Ahsoka called after her. “And whatever you do,  _ do not _ take advice from Ben Solo. You two are not to work together until you’ve ascended, it’s too dangerous. I mean it, Rey!”

“Alright. I know. I’ve told him -”

There was a knock on the outer door of the sanctum, and they both passed through the reinforced iron and wood door, Rey turning to ensure it was fully closed and locked while her master went to the door. She could sense who was beyond it, and an unusual sense of excitement spilling from his mind into hers.

“Just in time,” the lamia said wryly as she let him in. “What’s got you so… exuberant today, my lord Prince?”

“The  _ Ninka _ just docked at the harbor,” he said quickly. “Rey, you have to come  _ now _ .”

“Okay, alright,” she glanced down at her outfit for the day, loose golden trousers embroidered with blue and silver swirls and a matching gold vest, highlighting the spill of cream-colored silk from her blouse underneath. It had a matching little sheer gold silk cape, which she reclaimed from the coat rack in Ahsoka’s study and pinned on carefully with a blue and silver cameo brooch. “Am I fit to be seen on your arm, my lord, or should I have BeeBee find me a gown?”

“No - there’s no time - what you’re wearing is perfect, anyway.” He gave her one of his rare smiles, bending to press a kiss to the top of her head, where her hair was neatly braided along the sides and gathered into a simple bun in the back. A single silver filigree comb was just visible over her ear, completing the look, and Ben’s fingers brushed over it carefully. “You look like a sorceress-queen already.”

He offered her his arm and Rey took it, tucking her fingers into the rock-hard muscle of his bicep. She noticed her prince was wearing only his light armor, silver and leather bracers on his arms and shins, over tightly-tailored leather trousers and a black vest with modest silver brocade.  His long hair was loose, held back from his face by a braided leather band interwoven with threads of silver. The only crown he was really comfortable wearing, though Leia tried her best to convince him that his people needed a solid reminder of his station.

Rey had noticed a few days ago that the King wore no crown at all, and hardly dressed in a way befitting his station, although his shipboard uniform of simple breeches, leather jacket and open-necked shirt was all well-tailored in the finest fabrics.

Ben’s eyes caught hers as they strolled briskly down the halls of the palace, and he frowned down at her. “What are you staring at?”

“You.” She flashed him a demure smile. “You look very princely this evening, my love.”

His eyes softened the moment she spoke the words ‘my love’, and his free hand came to rest over hers on his steady arm.

“I’m glad I meet with your approval, but we have something else to discuss while we walk.” Rey blinked up at him in surprise, but Ben kept moving, his eyes focused on the path ahead of them. “Your lady, Rose Tico. Were you aware of what she is?”

“What? Rose is a dannan - a lovely, brilliant dannan, but -”

“No, she definitely is  _ not _ . Have you ever seen pictures of a quillan, my lady?” He stopped, watching her face as she took in his question.

“A quillan? There were some on the tapestries in my room - Rose and I rescued them when Kreia was having my mother’s things removed. They’re sort of catlike equines, with a horn and cloven hooves in the back, claws in the front.” She sighed, wondering if that tapestry had been packed with the rest of her things. It would be if Rose had any say, she was certain of that. “My mother said they were guardian spirits sent by the gods to guide certain people - powerful sorcerers, benevolent kings, mystics…”

“Did your mother also tell you they have human forms?” He sounded amused now, and Rey couldn’t fathom why this line of questioning was so important to him. “That their magic is so unbreakable and impenetrable, even the Dark Lords could not escape it?”

“I remember… There was book she used to read to me when I was young, about the quillan Qui-Gon Jinn and St. Obi-wan…” All she remembered from the story was that they had rescued a young boy, and the quillan had been murdered by a servant of the Dark Lords. It was not a nice story, but the tales her mother read to her rarely were.  _ The world is not a nice place, my child. Best you learn that early. _

“He cursed the Emperor, and no matter how hard they tried, the Dark Lords couldn’t escape their eventual demise… What on earth does this have to do with Rose?”

“Ah. You’ll see in a moment,” was all he would tell her.

Very soon, he swept them into the Low Hall, a large, vaulted chamber that was still much smaller than the Throne Room and used by the royals for more intimate day-to-day business. Queen Leia was seated behind a large table up on the dias, various papers and books in front of her, with Kaydel at her left taking notes and assisting her. Before the platform, three people were gathered, two she did not recognize - a violet-winged seraph with noble bearing and a circlet of gold nestled atop her lilac hair, and an olive-skinned ifreet with messy black curls, dressed in much the same fashion as the king sitting at Leia’s right. The other was a young woman, shorter than the other two, dressed in a simple travelling gown and hooded cloak, with long, straight black hair that was achingly familiar.

“Rose!” She called immediately, drawing the attention of the entire room as they entered from the back. Rey had already stepped forward, intending to wrap her friend in a welcoming hug, but she paused, taking in the woman’s appearance. The ink-black hair, heart-shaped face, and kind crinkles at the eyes were all familiar to her, insisting to her brain that this was indeed her friend, but…

Unconsciously, Rey lifted a hand to her own forehead, staring at the neatly-spiraled onyx horn that emerged from Rose’s hair. And her  _ ears _ , small, furry and expressive, framing her gentle smile and sparkling, pupil-less silver eyes illuminated with joy.

She barely had time to take it all in before Rose had nearly clobbered her, wrapping Rey in a warm hug without the slightest hesitation.

“You’re alright!” She breathed, with her face pressed into Rey’s shoulder, careful of the wickedly-sharp horn above it. “I have so much to tell you!”

“Um… Yes, obviously.” Rey pulled back, and her hand lifted again, halfway out before she realized what she was doing and turned it into a general wave at her friend’s completely changed form. “You can start with… This?”

Rose giggled, releasing her from the fierce hug to grab hold of her hand instead, glancing over to nod in Ben’s direction. “Hello, tall, dark and gorgeous. May I steal your lady for a bit?”

A slight smirk came to his lips and he crossed his arms, regarding the quillan’s earnest face.

“It appears you already have, but by all means…” He stepped around them to head towards the table with his parents and the other guests. “I believe I am needed elsewhere at the moment anyway.”

Suddenly realizing they had been in the middle of an audience, Rey looked up at the King and Queen, her face scarlet. “Oh! Your Majesties, I beg your forgiveness -”

But King Han just shook his head, offering the two young women an indulgent wink. “I’m pretty sure we can continue this meeting without you for now, Princess. Go give your friend a tour of the castle or something, catch up on gossip.”

“Han!” Leia chided, but her eyes on them were gentle. “You have my leave to go. I’m sure you two have much to discuss, and I’m afraid you won’t have much time to be alone in the coming days.”

“Come on,” Rey grinned, looping her arm through Rose’s. “I’ll show you my favorite place in the palace.”

 

Surprisingly, the garden wasn’t as empty as she’d expected it to be, but Rose had already exclaimed at the wall of cascading water, rushing over to reach a hand under one of the many little falls. Rey couldn’t help but return her awed smile, though she cast her eyes on the garden’s other visitor, tucked away in a corner chair with his massive wings stretched out above him, a heavy leather tome in his lap. He was watching Rose, not her, and she pressed her lips together worriedly as he slowly closed his book to observe the quillan while he was still unnoticed.

“This is beautiful,” Rose exclaimed, shaking water from her fingers. “Truly, I understand how it’s your favorite place here. Although it seems beauty is everywhere in this palace.”

Rey smiled, taking Rose’s hand again and turning to address the wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare of the seraph lurking at the edge if their periphery.

“Lady Rose Tico, may I present Lord Jacen Syndulla.”

The other faerie stepped towards them slowly, his blue and mossy-green wings stretching wide before he folded them in close to his body. Setting his book carefully on the nearest chair, he took Rose’s hand, bowing and offering a chaste kiss to the silver-white scales on the back of it.

“Lady Rose. My pleasure, of course.” He glanced at Rey and she glared back, daring him to say or do something foolish to her dearest friend. Under her intense scrutiny, he seemed determined to behave himself for the moment. “What an honor it is, to lay eyes upon such a lovely, legendary creature. Tell me, do you fly, Lady Rose, like the quillan in the stories?”

Rose tilted her head thoughtfully. In truth, she had not taken her full form for so long, she had no idea what powers or abilities she possessed. But she was definitely going to find out, preferably as soon as possible.

“I… I don’t really know, my lord,” she said with a soft laugh. “I have spent the majority of my life in the guise of a simple dannan. Truly, I haven’t taken my real form since I was just newly formed, before my sister and I left Otomok.”

Jacen’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked from her to Rey, his lips working without managing any words. The silence stretched between them, just long enough to be awkward, when he finally managed to find his voice.

“Allow me to offer my services then,” he said, offering another low nod of deference. “If you decide you are in need of a teacher in the skies.”

Rey’s eyes nearly bulged from her head, and she held her hand over her mouth, hiding her shocked expression behind the spill of creamy lace at her sleeve.

Rose blushed prettily, giving Jacen a little bow of her own. “Thank you, Lord Jacen. I’d like that.”

“Can I interest you ladies in a game of cards before dinner?” The seraph offered, withdrawing a pack of laminated sabacc cards from his pocket. “I’m sure it won’t be long before the usual crowd gathers ‘round.”

“Oooh,” Rose grinned. “I haven’t played sabacc in years! Not since - Well. It has been a while, hasn’t it, Your Highness?”

She was giving Rey a pleading look, begging her to concede to playing with them, and she couldn’t help but give in, if only to make her dear friend feel welcome. They’d played often in the evenings when Paige was alive, and she had picked up Rose’s stumble over her words, recalling those late nights before everything changed so drastically.

“Alright,” she conceded, giving the young man a hard stare as he shuffled the cards. “But no cheating, Jacen. I’ll have my eye on you.”

“Of course, Lady Rey. Would you like to deal?” He held the deck out to her and she took it hesitantly, hands quickly recalling the familiar task of shuffling and passing out two cards a piece.

“Tell me about your trip,” she said turning to Rose. “You said you had a lot to tell me.”

“Well, I guess the biggest thing is… Finn is alive.”

Rey’s hands froze, the cards she had dealt herself forgotten.  _ Finn? How… _ From the look in Rose’s eyes, this was story that required a lot of complicated details.

“Finn is alive, and you’re a quillan.” She shook her head. “And I thought  _ I _ was living in faerie story.”

“You both are,” Jacen interrupted with a grin. “In that you’re both faeries, living in your own stories.”

“Yes, well…” Rose glanced down at the cards on the table, prompting Rey to view her own. “I hardly know where to start…”

 

As the afternoon turned to evening, Rose was introduced to Jy’katha Tano, who was so excited to meet someone who looked remotely like her she rushed into an awkward hug and managed to scrape one of her backward-curved horns against the quillan’s single one. Both winced, Rose breaking into a nervous giggle as the lamia ruefully rubbed her head, where the base of thick keratin grew over her pointed ear.

“I’m so sorry!” Rose grasped her hand and Jy’katha chuckled, squeezing the clawed fingers in her own scaled grip. “I’m not entirely used to it yet! I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“I am perfectly fine, lady quillan. Only my pride is wounded,” she shook her head, giving Jacen a baleful look. “Keep laughing, Syndulla, I’m sure you’ll make a fine addition to the other stonework in the palace.”

“There are spells of reflection, you know. You’re not immune to your own powers.”

“I’d love to hear you explain that to Lady Ahsoka,” Jy’katha rolled her eyes, letting go of Rose’s hand and gesturing to the table. “May I join you? Someone should sit across from Jacen and make sure he doesn’t cheat.”

“I do  _ not _ cheat! Why is everyone always on about that?” But he passed the cards to Rose, letting her take over dealing. “I’m not a Solo, for f - for ah… for gods’ sake!”

Rose gave Rey a look as she passed out her cards, and she winked back, realizing for the first time in years she was actually enjoying herself in the company of other nobles.

“So how old are you, if it isn’t too rude of me to ask?” Jy’katha questioned Rose after glancing quickly at the cards under her hand. “I know quillan are essentially immortal, but perhaps you count time spent in the middle kingdom differently?”

“I’m twenty-two,” she answered freely. “And we do count our time here just as you do… The essence of a quillan is immortal, true, but… Every lifetime has its own sort of… identity. I know the names and experiences of all the lifetimes my essence has spent here, but they’re not  _ me _ , Rose Tico, lady of Otomok, handmaid to the future queen of Coruscant. I am my own person, and when I die, even if my essence returns to the heavens, there will never be another Rose Tico.”

All three of her companions, including Rey, had leaned forward to listen as she explained, and Rose’s pale cheeks were brushed pink at the attention.

“I’ll bid,” Jacen said, smoothly redirecting he conversation to toss forth two of the carved ivory tokens they were using. “The Princess said you had a sister.”

“Yes.” Pain flickered in her eyes, and she caught Rey’s equally mournful expression. “The King had her hanged. It isn’t a story for polite company, I’m afraid.”

“Forgive me for prying,” he replied in a solemn tone. “Unjustly, I presume?”

“She stood up for me before the court and spoke the truth,” Rey answered as vaguely as possible. “My father prefers to invent his own truths, and the punishment for speaking against him is dire.”

“I am sorry, for both of you,” the seraph said, nodding to Rose. “I have a sister… If anything were to happen to her, I’d slaughter anyone involved.”

“I’d help you,” Rey agreed firmly. 

“I know,” Jacen snorted, holding up his newly-healed wrist where Rey had inadvertently stabbed him trying to shield said sister from his own wild blade. He held it out to Rose for inspection. “Your Princess is much fiercer than I expected.”

“Oh?” Rose blinked at him, a picture of innocence. “And what did you expect, my lord?”

Jy’katha made a choked noise that bubbled into outright laughter as Lord Syndulla stammered, his eyes widening as he realized he had painted himself into a corner. Rey shot her a companionable smile.

“I love her,” the lamia leaned over to whisper once she’d regained control of herself. “I cannot wait to introduce her to the others.”

 


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wait a minute.” Lady Jy’katha glanced from Poe to Rose. “Did you really spend the night alone with a Fomorian?”
> 
> Rose blushed prettily, peering down at her plate and toying with her fork. Rey tilted her head, waiting for her answer, and she finally gathered her nerves to nod silently, looking first for the reaction of her dearest friend.
> 
> “Oh,” Rey said softly. “So you’re… involved?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Editing Note - I have a really bad habit of inserting unneccessary apostrophes in my character names, and Lady Jykatha is based on an Exalted (tabletop RPG) character I made a long time ago whose name I originally spelled Jy'katha. Sorry for any confusion, I write too fast for a beta so any mistakes are all on me.

Rose was a hit at dinner as well, handling Kaydel's wide-eyed curiosity and Jaina’s entirely inappropriate questions with grace and soft, infectious laughter. She sat at Rey’s left, stealthily watching the others for opportunities to have a whispered conversation without being overheard. Lady Onera was entertaining them all with a story about her first duel with a non-sorcerer, Poe Dameron, who it seemed had been met by everyone present except Rey.

“Speaking of Poe,” Rose whispered, low enough that only the sidhe’s delicate ear could catch it. “He was with us on the journey to Ren. He’s the one that Finn freed to help them get past the guards.”

“Where is he now, do you think?”

“Probably still talking to the King and Queen. Although maybe not, he didn’t get along well with Queen Amilyn.”

“Hmm. Will he put in a good word for Finn?”

“I think so. But -” An echo of boots rang out in the little garden, and Rose looked up with a snort. “Well, speak of the devil,” she said out loud, referencing Onera’s story.

All eyes turned to the young faerie standing in the doorway, the same messy black curls and dusky skin Rey had seen from behind in the Low Hall, only now she was caught by his smoldering coalfire eyes.

“My dearest lords and ladies. It appears I’ve interrupted your dinner, please forgive me,” he spoke in a pleasant, faintly amused tone as he swept them all a rather unnecessary bow. Onera rolled her eyes, and Jykatha snorted next to her.

“Poe!” Jaine hopped down from her seat to run and embrace him, nearly as tall as he was with her willowy body, and Rose noticed he was careful not to hold the selkie too close.

“Hey there, easy kid!” He grinned. “It’s good to see you, too, but I’m healing, I don’t want you to get burned.”

Her large sea-green eyes widened and she backed away, still gazing after him adoringly as he took a seat beside Jacen. Some private look passed between the two men, and Rose’s empathy flared, catching the trail of some strong emotion. The seraph laid a light hand on Poe’s leatherclad arm.

“Welcome home, Captain Dameron. Did I hear you say you were injured?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Got my shin crushed under an iron horseshoe.” He lifted his leg like he was going to put it in Jacen’s lap. “Want to kiss it and make it better, Jace?”

“Poe!” Kaydel looked shocked, but Jacen just rolled his eyes and shoved Poe gently away from him.

“Maybe later,” he gave the handsome ifreet a wink. “Tell us about your trip, first. Rose said you came with a Fomorian?”

“Oh, yes, I want to hear this,” Lady Onera said, leaning forward with interest. “The rest of you shut up.”

Poe was an excellent storyteller, proving the ifreet’s natural gifts ran strongly in him, and he filled them in on his part of the ordeal, meeting Finn and being rescued, Bazine and her tired attempts at seduction.

“Wait a minute.” Lady Jykatha glanced from Poe to Rose. “Did you really spend the night alone with a _Fomorian_?”

Rose blushed prettily, peering down at her plate and toying with her fork. Rey tilted her head, waiting for her answer, and she finally gathered her nerves to nod silently, looking first for the reaction of her dearest friend.

“Oh,” Rey said softly. “So you’re… involved?” She gave Rose a gentle elbowing. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“I was going to when we were alone,” she looked only at Rey, not daring to risk the eyes of the rest of the Prince’s friends, who had been so welcoming only a few minutes before. “I simply… I didn’t want to give anyone here the idea that I was… compromised, or seduced in some way.”

“You weren’t?” Jykatha pressed.

“Of course she was, it’s a bloody Fomor -” Jacen made a sound like he’d swallowed his own tongue, and from the way Poe was angling his body, she had feeling he might have given the seraph a kick under the table.

Jykatha nodded encouragingly, and Rose finally managed to meet the serpentine gaze of the young lamia.

“I asked Queen Amilyn if we could stay together.” She paused, deciding honesty was the better policy. If she were going to make a case for Finn, these were the people she was most likely to win over first. And Lady Onera was the daughter of Sabine Wren. “I insisted, really. Who else could be more trustworthy to guard a Fomorian? And the Queen - Lady Amilyn - is a seraphine. If she sensed anything at all malicious, she would have thrown Finn in prison along with Bazine and Poe.”

“Queen Amilyn put _you_ in the dungeon and let a _Fomorian_ walk free?” Lady Onera peered at Poe, who shifted uneasily in his seat. “Really Poe, must you antagonize _every_ seraph you encounter?”

“Not _every_ one,” he objected, shooting Jacen a pointed glance.

“Oh, no. You antagonize me plenty, you fire-breathing smokestack,” the other man said with a smirk. “I’ve just learned to ignore it.”

“Only because you’re both more interested in antagonizing Ben,” Kaydel pointed out quietly. “But we’re done talking about you now, so sit still and shut up.”

“I am -” All three ladies, Kaydel, Onera and Jyka shot him a look, and Poe waved his hands for peace. Silently.

Kaydel turned back to Rose. “Now, tell us everything about you and your fascinating, forbidden affair.”

“I don’t know that it’s all _that_ fascinating,” Rose said with a nervous laugh. “It’s just that we grew up with Finn, he was our friend for a long time, and then he - well, I thought he was dead, but it seems he only faked his own death to keep me and Rey safe, and went back into the guard to lay low… All of the castle guardsmen are formless Fomori, apparently, shapeless shadow-fiends with very little individuality, so he was able to sort of… discard his face, I believe, and blend in. And then Fazma ordered him to kill me and take my place and he couldn’t do it, of course, so… He rescued Poe and they escaped.”

“I’d like to meet him,” Ben spoke into the silence that followed. “And until I give you leave, no one in this room, except Poe and Rose and Rey, are to speak about Finn to anyone but each other, in the privacy of your own rooms. Does everyone agree?”

“Solo, you can’t start damage control now -” Jacen stopped at a warning brush of Poe’s hand on his arm. “Seriously? You’re on his side?”

Poe shrugged, his smoldering eyes regarding their young Prince carefully.

“There are a lot of factors at work here, Jacen. I think it’s best we proceed with caution.” He gave Rose a quick glance. “The last time I ran my mouth off before I had time to consider all the parties involved, I ended up in Ren’s dungeons. While I’m sure New Alderaan has nicer accomodations… It won’t help Finn for me to share his fate.”

“Wait… You really trust this guy? A _Fomorian?_ ” Jacen and everyone else, besides Ben himself, seemed to regard Poe with a mix of shock and concern.

“Yeah, Jace.” He turned to meet the others around the table, pausing to catch each member of their little dinner ensemble in turn, stopping finally on the intent, thoughtful gaze of Lady Jykatha. “I do.”

Rose had followed his eyes, noticing the lamia’s expression. _There. If there’s an opening to be had, it’s with her._ She gave Rey’s hand a squeeze under the table, and the sidhe’s minute narrowing of eyes told her the Princess had noticed it as well. Her ear flicked towards Rose, a subtle sign that she’d understood, and agreed with.

“Then I have your pledge -” Ben stopped as Rey got to her feet, laying a delicate hand on his shoulder. Even standing beside his chair, the seraph's black wings rose over her head. Together, they were quite undeniably striking.

“I would like for you all to promise me,” she said slowly, and Rose could feel the tendrils of her sidhe oath magic rising. “Just give us the next two weeks. Please.”

“Two weeks of non-disclosure,” Onera nodded. “We won’t talk about or participate in any conversations about the Fomorian. But you didn’t say we couldn’t _listen_.”

“Oh, no, Onera.” Ben smiled faintly. “I expect you to be listening _intently_.”

“Ahhh, I think I see.” Kaydel nodded, taking Rey’s hand across the table. “You have my word.”

One by one the others followed her example, even Jacen, after much prodding and glares from both his sister and Poe.

“Thank you,” Rey said softly, when it was done. She sank heavily into her seat, and Ben reached out an arm to steady her shoulders.

“The magic saps her strength,” he said quietly in response to Rose’s concerned look. “I’ll take her to bed in a minute. Will you still be staying in Rey’s suite, or have they assigned you your own rooms?”

“No, I want to stay with Rey,” she said firmly. “For now, anyway.”

She followed the Prince as he carefully maneuvered a half-awake Rey through the hall, pausing to whisper and point out certain landmarks, so she wouldn’t be completely at a loss the next day. It wasn’t too far from the Cascade Garden to the tower where the Prince and Princess’s suites were, although Rey was at the very top of the tall structure. She helped Ben get his bride-to-be settled in her bed, and was surprised when he continued to show her around the suite, the bathing chamber and how to work the controls on the clockwork plumbing, an extra closet with spare clothing and bedding, the cords to summon the palace servants and her own little bedchamber and private sitting room beyond.

 

Rose was nearly exhausted when he left, slipping out the outside entrance onto the large terrace that wrapped around the entire tower, because of course the seraphim had to have places to land. Knowing she’d be too tired to do it later, Rose made up her own bed and started a fire in both hearths, expecting the high rooms to get cold once the sun sunk away in the west. She noticed a pair of little ivory bowls, one filled with water, beside a pile of old blankets in the corner of Rey’s room, and after a short search she came upon a little winged feline creature, kneading the extra pillow at the head of the princess’ bed. It gave a little, warning mewl, and Rose chuckled.

“I’m not going to trouble you, little one. But I wouldn’t make a habit of that. The Prince is a _lot_ bigger than you.”

The creature mewled defiantly, but she refilled its water bowl anyway before leaving.

Now she just had to find her way from Rey’s cozy tower to the castle dungeons. New Alderaan was not that much larger than Coruscant’s castle, but everything was laid out differently, and there weren’t whole wings shut off and in disrepair - everything here was airy and well-dusted, and she passed at least twenty servants on various evening chores as she hunted for some way into the lower levels. Finally, she caught the welcome sight of a friendly - or a least familiar - face in one of the halls beneath the Throne Room.

“Lord Teferi!”

“Lady Rose,” the seraph who had been Finn’s guard gave her a low bow. “Looking for your friend?”

“Yes, actually.” She sighed in relief as he gave her directions. “Thank you so much! Good luck on your trial with the Queen’s Guard!”

“I don’t need luck, I’m a sorcerer.” He grinned. “But I thank you, Lady Quillan.”

Rose hurried on. If she wasn’t careful, it would be the middle hour before she reached him, and then she’d have to wait for Finn to wake up. As she climbed down stair after stair, she wondered at the irony of moving from a castle run mostly by dannan, where she’d had to pretend to sleep through the sacred hour for fifteen years, to a place where nearly everyone would be awake, and the person she wanted most to see was asleep.

 


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s just, Rey… The Princess was always so kind, so full of light. And Paige… she was a quillan! How… how could anyone...” He pressed his lips together to hide the grind of his teeth. There was nothing he could do from here, and even in Coruscant he hadn’t been free to help them. “All that light, snuffed out in a single day. It feels to me as if they tore a hole in the very fabric of the world, and nothing will ever repair it.”
> 
> Chewbacca expelled a smokey sigh, his startling blue eyes looking Finn up and down appraisingly.
> 
> “Listen to me, kid. I’m old, I’ve seen more war and politics than you could ever imagine. When these things happen, it’s like a hurricane, an act of nature or the gods and saints, I s’pose. You can survive and rebuild, but the landscape of the world is changed forever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is feels like a filler chapter, but it sets a lot of things in motion... And there's some nice smutty Stormflower action, so that's nice ;)

"You want me to talk about Rey?” Finn blinked at the massive, grizzled old grimalkin, taken by surprise. First he had ordered Teferi and Lucien to _‘get lost’_ in Wroshyrtongue, and then he’d opened the cell door with a long-handled key and ambled inside to get a better look at him. Now he was asking about the Princess, of all things. “Isn’t there something else you ought to be questioning me about? Like the defensive structures of Coruscant Castle, or General Hux’s standard drills or Lady Fazma -”

“May I sit?” Chewbacca huffed, waving his arm at the simple cot in Finn’s cell. He shrugged and nodded. The aged grimalkin rumbled his thanks, patting at the pockets of his shabby trousers and worn leather cloak and proceeding to roll himself a cigarette.

“Old bones. Gets cold and damp down here,” he explained. He lit his cigarette with a little cogwork flint, offering it to Finn. He shook his head, hoping the old faerie wouldn’t take offense, but he didn’t seem to. “You’re a bit old for a Fomorian. Shapeless ones don’t seem to survive more than a few years.”

“That’s because Fazma and Snoke are cruel masters,” Finn said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall. It was a larger cell than he’d expected, the bed had padding and blankets, and there was a divider to shield the necessary facilities for privacy, but Chewbacca was quite possibly the biggest grimalkin he’d ever seen. “I’m not sure about our natural lifespan, but the older we get, the more individual we become. Start forming personalities, features from the shapes we’ve taken start to be more permanent. They don’t like it. So they send us to war - anywhere and everywhere. As long as Kreia and Snoke do the rituals, they’ve got an endless supply. We’re born from the _uteni_ altar - they’ve tainted it, made it a portal to the Underworld - shapeless rise up two or three at a time, every lunar cycle.”

“Slaves,” the grimalkin spat derisively. “Children in armor.”

“Yeah.” Finn gave him an appraising look, but Chewbacca seemed sincere. “There’s nothing you can do about it. Snoke will keep sending them, and you have to defend your homes.”

“Hmph. Perhaps.” He puffed on his cigarette. “I asked about the girl.”

“Right. Lady Reyna.” He took a breath. “I used to play with Rose and her sister Paige when we were children. Rey, too, when she wasn’t with the Queen.”

“She was ill often, Queen Kira?”

“Yes. The King poisoned her slowly with trace iron. The physicians believe she had an ailment of the blood, but Fazma told me how they did it.” He closed his eyes, remembering when the Queen succumbed to death and the little princess had to be dragged away, screaming and sobbing. “Poor Rey. They were horrible to her. Kreia and Snoke were married in public less than a month after Queen Kira died. Of course, they’d already been living in the castle, Lady Kreia and her daughters. I’m not sure when they started summoning Fomori, but I know I was one of the first. After Rey’s mother was gone and they had control of the court, Kreia went to work on the nobles. Politics, poison, cold iron in the night, false claims of treason… They did whatever they could to get rid of nearly all the fae at court. Even the servants. Lord Lando and his daughter stayed the longest - he was born there, Kira was his sister. It took them years to build up the backing to go through with their plot. Years while Rey grew up… All of Kira’s family was barred from court eventually, but they stayed because of her. Snoke kept her restricted to her rooms and the courtyard below, but she was allowed to visit with Lando and Mara whenever she wanted, and she had Rose and Paige as well.”

“The days after that bastard Armitage Hux got to her, did you see what went on? When Lando and Luke were accused of treason?” Chewbacca gestured with his cigarette. “I heard tell they executed one of the girls.”

“I wasn’t there,” Finn shook his head, staring down at his feet. He should have been. He should have at least _tried_. Mara and Luke had almost succeeded in sneaking Rey out, maybe if he had been there he could have helped, could have stopped Hux just long enough…

“Hey, kid. It’s not your fault,” the gruff voice reassured him. One massive paw reached out to pat his knee kindly. “Like you said, they were plotting for a long time. Vile, devious bastards.” He shook his head, muttering under his breath. “Gods curse the lot of them to a slow and painful death.”

“They deserve it, even Bazine probably…” Finn clenched his fists, meeting Chewbacca’s hard stare. The old faerie said nothing, just holding his eyes in a steady, nonjudgmental expression of interest. Finally, he gathered himself to continue.

“It’s just, Rey… The Princess was always so kind, so full of light. And Paige… she was a _quillan_ ! How… how could _anyone_...” He pressed his lips together to hide the grind of his teeth. There was nothing he could do from here, and even in Coruscant he hadn’t been free to help them. “All that light, snuffed out in a single day. It feels to me as if they tore a hole in the very fabric of the world, and nothing will ever repair it.”

Chewbacca expelled a smokey sigh, his startling blue eyes looking Finn up and down appraisingly.

“Listen to me, kid. I’m old, I’ve seen more war and politics than you could ever imagine. When these things happen, it’s like a hurricane, an act of nature or the gods and saints, I s’pose. You can survive and rebuild, but the landscape of the world is changed forever.” He climbed to his feet with a groan, and Finn offered his hand to help, but the old faerie waved him away. “My balance is fine, just don’t move like I used to. Don’t fret over me, I ain’t about to fall on you. Wouldn’t want these people to think you injured me somehow.”

Finn stepped back instead, giving him room to maneuver. The grizzled feline faerie towered over him, peering down with cat-pupiled blue eyes in a mostly dannan face. His skin was dusky, not as dark as Finn’s, but his beard and substantial sideburns were a mottled cream and sandy brown, and his head was framed by two huge, dark-furred ears. Finn wondered what his animal form looked like, with those unusual blue eyes and massive frame. He wore no shirt over the wide expanse of his lightly-furred chest, with mended and patched trousers held up by a fine leather belt around his waist, bearing an empty holster for some kind of large weapon. His long leather cloak was lined in his own cream and brown fur, and he wore sturdy sailing boots of boiled leather. It was hard to believe such a scruffy creature was First Mate to the _Millennium Falcon_ , the King’s personal vessel.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, my lord,” Finn said with a low bow, prompting a hearty chuckle from the famous Chewbacca. “I hope you found what you were looking for.”

“I’ll be giving the court a good report, don’t worry.” He held out a massive paw, and Finn shook it firmly. “I’m glad we had a chance to talk ‘fore they run you ragged tomorrow. Be polite, be honest, don’t let them rattle you. That’s comin’ from the King, too.”

“Thanks. I’ll try. Saints be with you, Lord Chewbacca.”

“It’s just Chewy,” he grumped, waving an arm as he plodded away. “And same to you.”

Finn settled on the cot with a sigh, resting his head in his hands. He wasn’t cuffed or chained in any way, he had water to drink and wash and a clean chamberpot with a private screen, and blankets on his bed. To most people, it would probably seem like a gloomy little cell in a cold, damp dungeon, but Finn had lived with less for most of his life. Just having a room to himself and actual bedding felt like a fine luxury after the awful barracks in Coruscant.

  
  


He didn’t realize Chewy had left his cell unlocked, with the key still in the latch, until he heard steps down the hall and looked up.

“Why is the door open?”

Rose kicked herself immediately. She had so many things she wanted to say to him, and those were the first words to come into her head? But she made Finn laugh, so perhaps it was worth sounding foolish.

“Chewy must have left it.” He stood up, and Rose met his warm brown eyes, frozen and spellbound at his open expression of desire. “Would you like to come inside, my lady?”

She glanced up and down the hall, wondering where Finn’s guards had disappeared to. Surely Teferi hadn’t just left his post without a replacement. Someone would come, she was certain. No competent castle guard would leave a prisoner like Finn alone for long. But… perhaps they had a minute?

Her fingers found the handle of the key, and she pulled the door open slowly, just wide enough to slip between the cold iron bars. For a single, heart-pounding moment, they both hesitated, eyes locked together, filled with a rush of tangled emotions. Then his eyes dropped to her mouth and Rose threw herself forward, sighing as his strong arms came around her, enfolding her as she fit her lips against his. Finn tilted his head slightly and she parted her lips for his tongue, a soft sound of pleasure and contentment escaping from her throat. Her hands slid over the hard, round muscles of his upper arms, gentled talons tracing lines along his skin, over his shoulders and down his back.

Abruptly, Finn released her mouth to crush her against him, his nose pressed into her hair, careful of the sleek spiral horn rising from beneath the smooth black strands.

“I missed you,” he whispered, eyes closed as he inhaled the lavender scent of her shampoo. “Did you get to see Rey? Were they nice to you?”

“Yes, and yes. She’s excited to see you, too.” Rose’s shoulders heaved with the effort of pulling herself away from his embrace. “There are so many things I want to tell you, but I was sworn to secrecy and don’t know if there might be others listening.”

She seated herself on his cot, glancing approvingly at the blanket and pillow and the rest of his accommodations. “This is a lovely little inn the Queen has running for her prisoners. Did they feed you well?”

“Stew with plenty of meat,” he said with a nod. “And the bread was fresh, and they left me a pitcher of water.”

“Well, it’s a better start than I expected.” Finn smiled, sitting beside her and folding his fingers through hers. Rose leaned her head against his shoulder and let her eyes drift closed. “Rey has some interesting friends. Lady Jykatha, daughter of _the_ Ahsoka Tano and Lady Onera, daughter of Sabine and Ezra Wren, a nyxie. They are courting, apparently, with full approval from the court and their parents.”

“Huh.” He didn’t really know what to say, or think, about that bit of information, other than to hope it meant Sabine Wren, Knight-Captain of the Queen’s Guard, would be an open-minded sort of person. “Did you meet the Prince?”

“Oh, my stars, _yes_ .” Rose opened her eyes and turned to give him a secretive little smile. “I met him before, of course, but only for a few moments. He’s even bigger than I remember - I suppose you know seraphim are large, especially men, but Ben Solo is…” She giggled. She actually _giggled_ , leaning her face into his shoulder. “There was another seraph there, Lord Jacen, and he’s tall, but nothing like the Prince.”

“I’m starting to think Prince Ben Solo and I aren’t going to get along so well,” Finn said, giving her a sideways glare. Rose shook her head, giving his shoulder a playful slap. “You sound like you want to marry him yourself.”

“Oh no, I don’t think so. I’m rather caught up on someone else right now,” her silver eyes danced as she looked him over. “Besides, His Highness is hopelessly in love with Rey. It’s obvious, everyone at our little dinner party could see it, even the boys. Speaking of boys… Lord Dameron joined us as well.”

“Really? Poe Dameron?” He regarded her with interest. “That must have been an interesting dinner.”

“Oh, it was.”

“Tell me about it,” he begged, squeezing her hand. “Please, Rose?”

“I shall try, but I think the middle hour is coming up soon,” she warned. “So get settled and I’ll tell it to you like a bedtime story.” She patted the cot, and Finn did as she asked, pulling her down to cuddle against him in the small space.

While she spoke, he covered every inch of her exposed skin, from her wrists to her throat to just above her breasts, with heated, slow kisses, gradually adjusting them until she lay beneath him on the cot. His hands found the laces of her blouse, and Rose trailed off, already breathing in short, stuttered gasps. “Finn, someone could come down here at any moment -”

He silenced her with another kiss while he deftly untied and pushed open her blouse, trailing his fingers over the sheer fabric of her undershirt.

“I’ll stop if you ask, Rose.” He paused, gazing down at her while he rolled his thumbs gently over her peaking nipples. “Rose?”

“Don’t stop,” she breathed.

Her eyes followed as he moved down over her, pushing up both shirts and quickly unfastening the simple brassiere she wore underneath. His mouth sealed around her nipple, tongue rasping over it mercilessly, and Finn had to cover her mouth as she moaned in delight. He squeezed the opposite one gently in his strong hand, and she arched her back, sliding her legs apart beneath him.

She could feel him, his heavy length pressed against her throbbing heat, and Finn made a low noise of surprise when she rocked firmly against him.

“Rose,” he warned.

“You started this,” she hissed back. “You had better finish it somehow, if you want to keep me as your lady.”

His eyes widened, full of heat and tenderness as he stared down at her defiant expression, and he raised a hand to stroke her face.

“You’re my lady, now?”

“Idiot. I’ve always been yours.” She leaned forward, cautiously, and kissed him, wrapping both hands around the back of his head. “Now are you going to take proper care of me, or am I going to go upstairs and have a very disappointing bath?”

“Oh, Rose.” He sighed, closing his eyes. “You don’t know what you _do_ to me, do you? I want to take care of you - I want to be with you - forever.”

“Good. I want you forever, too.” She smiled in response to his, then shifted her hips insistently. “I apologize for being forward, but I _am_ a sort of wild creature. The laws of the _noblese fae_ are not followed by quillan. So, I’d like it if forever could start now. Please, my lord?”

“Whatever my lady wishes,” he agreed, turning his mouth to take in her other nipple. Rose moaned, and Finn gave a muffled chuckle, reaching up to cover her mouth with his hand again. “If you are so eager for my care, I beg you try a bit harder at keeping silent, or we’ll both be in trouble.”

Rose nodded, liquid crystal eyes wide, as his other hand slipped down to gather up her skirt and delve beneath it, finding her silken underthings and stroking her through the fabric. She gripped his wrist with one hand, holding him there to muffle her sounds as she moved her body to meet his touch.

Linen and silk were pushed aside, and Rose nearly arched off the little cot at the feeling of his finger sliding into her, her claws digging into his arm where she held it. Soon he added another, slowly thrusting into her as she rocked against him, and he released her breast for a ragged whisper.

“Rose, can I bite you? Please - I - I need to taste you -” She nodded emphatically, using her free hand to guide him back to her breast, making sure to maintain eye contact as he bent his head. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Finn, yes,” she mumbled beneath the heat of his hand. “I like it, I want you to.”

He cursed heatedly, eyes closed as he sealed his mouth around her once more, and his fingers took up a faster speed, his palm sliding away from her mouth to hold his weight more securely over her.

And then his teeth pierced her, a sharp pain followed by a flood of pleasure and warmth and she was coming apart beneath him with a moan that she struggled to contain, as Finn sucked at her flesh with closed eyes.

When she could breathe again, Rose slipped her hands down, determined to touch him, to bring him the same the pleasure he’d given her. The loose pants he’d been given had a simple drawstring, and she was able to work her hand beneath the waistband of his undershorts, firmly grasping his manhood for the first time.

Finn’s whole body jerked at the contact, and she held him as he let go of her breast to rut into her hand, panting into her chest while he spilled over her skirt with a final shudder.

“Oh, Gods, Rose. I’m sorry -” She laughed, gently stroking the back of his head. “I should have warned you.”

“I knew what would happen, I’m not an idiot.” She fumbled around in the bed, finding an extra blanket they’d somehow kicked to the side with her free hand. Still giggling, she cleaned up as best she could, grateful her skirts were a soft linen, easy to wash and hopefully with a palace this big no one would notice what kind of stains appeared on whose clothes. Or maybe she’d just cut it up for quilting or patchwork or something. “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

“Are you staying with Rey?” He looked scandalized at that thought, and she rolled her eyes.

“Rey knows. And I have my own rooms. They’re part of her suite, but there’s a separate entrance, and I have my own sitting room and washroom and closet.” She sat up, swinging her legs over the side of her bed and adjusting her clothes as best as possible. The large cloak that went with her dress had pooled beneath her, mercifully free of any suspicious liquids, and she gathered it around her. “I think I’ll be fine. But we’ve got to get you out of this ridiculous cell.”

“Hey, now, it’s not that bad.” Finn winked at her as he got up to use the water basin and clean up. “I’ve got water to stay clean and a nice warm bed that smells like lavender and dragonscale to sleep in.”

“Dragonscale?”

“ _Your_ dragonscale.” He grinned. “Idiot.”

“Oh!” She glance down at his thoroughly tousled bedding, flushing faintly. “You mean it - your bed smells like me. Lavender and dragonscale? That’s what I smell like to you?”

“Yes, and I love it.” He sat beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulders, bending his head to inhale against her neck. “I love you.”

Rose turned, looking up to meet his eyes, still thrilled to hear those words from him. Finn smiled back at her, watching her face intently as she studied him. She could feel his uncertainty, the weight of his fears and anxiety, all eased by the glowing warmth he felt in her presence. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and she dabbed at them with her sleeve.

“I love you, too, Finn.” She hugged him, hard, and her horn glowed darkly in the dimly-lit cell, soaking up his negative emotions and filling him with her limitless, valiant light.

He smiled at her - a rather silly sort of boneless grin - and then he toppled over into the bed with a muffled groan. Rose stood so he could get comfortable, bending to kiss his cheek before she left.

“Mmm… sorry… middle hour…” he mumbled. “So… tired…”

“I know.” She suspected her magic had contributed some to his exhaustion, as she’d seen him resist the demands of the sacred hour before, but they had both suffered an extremely long day.

The silver-handled key glinted in the light as she carefully pushed the door closed, and Rose bit her lip. It was tempting to leave it that way, and it might weigh in on Finn’s side if he remained here all night with the door unlocked and didn’t try to escape, but Teferi had seen her in the hall. Despite his gentle treatment so far, Finn’s position was still tenuous at best, and she had seen the shocked reaction of the Prince’s friends.

It wasn’t easy to be a quillan after all her years of existing simply, in the background, helping Rey and exercising her gifts with caution. She appreciated the freedom to finally be herself, but the feelings of exposure and anxiety that came with being a mysterious, one-of-a-kind, legendary creature weighed on her sanity.

Finn didn’t even register the click of the lock as she carefully turned the key, replacing it on the hanger on the opposite wall before she took on the task of climbing all the miles of stairways back to Rey’s suite. She slipped in through her own door, barely glancing around the sitting room before she collapsed on her own bed, content to just lie still and rest until the hour was over and sleep claimed her once again.

 

 

 

“Please be careful with that, it’s older than this entire island!” Rose shouted as two burly dannan manhandled one of Queen Kira’s carved ebony chests. It clattered rather loudly as they placed it on the floor, and she winced. “That china had better be all in one piece.”

Before she could check it, there were more porters and servants with another load of Rey’s things, including her own silver-gilded wardrobe, and she had to stop them from putting it in the wrong place. A thump and a hiss greeted her when she came back from setting up her own room, the little winged cat scrambling out of the way to launch itself on her shoulder, sharp claws digging in through the light dress and apron she wore.

“Ow!” She scratched the kitten’s chin soothingly. “Shhh, you’re alright. Be gentle with the claws, please.”

In half a day, the little beast had managed to cough up two hairballs on a priceless carpet and somehow still win Rose’s heart as it hissed and growled protectively at the throng of people invading their mistress’s territory. Speaking to animals was another of the quillan’s unique gifts, and the qualmi gentled her grip with a little apprehensive chirp.

“I know, I know.” She sighed as she settled herself on a little velvet divan in the middle of their shared living area, filled haphazardly with furniture and baskets and countless wrapped bundles. “I have to get all of this unpacked and arranged, too,” she complained to the kitten. “Rey hardly has the time to eat and sleep at the moment.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a curious page poking around in one of the chests full of tapestries, and she hurried to chase him off, glowering. The people of New Alderaan were much more pleasant, in general, than Coruscant, and there was no atmosphere of fear looming over the servants here, but they were infernally curious about their new princess. And said princess’s belongings.

Rose lifted the qualmi from her shoulder and set her down atop the most important chest, an intricately-carved piece of wroshyr and ivory, inlaid with fine gemstones and magically sealed with the sigil of House Kenobi.

“Alright, kitty, I’m giving you a job. This chest is very important to Rey, and I don’t want anyone to even _look_ at it funny.” She patted the smooth wood on the top. “Guard. Protect.”

The little animal mantled its tiny wings, standing up and planting its feet aggressively, and gave an impressive little roar. “Good girl,” Rose patted its head, then returned to the task of setting up Rey’s quarters as close to her memory of the rooms in Coruscant as possible. Much of the things that had been sent with her had been her mother’s, rescued and tucked away in storage by Paige, and Rose felt her heart swell as the rooms began to come together.

Tapestries of quillan and dragons soaring through bright blue fabric covered the dark stone walls, rugs of azure and deep emerald green overlaid the cold marble floor. Books, slowly stolen from the library or sealed in hidden compartments by Queen Kira, found their way onto the shelves, along with bits of clockwork handcrafted by Rose and Rey - dragons that breathed steam, unicorns with glowing horns, a chimera with a jaw that opened and closed when one of its tails was pulled.

Much of these things had been kept hidden even from Rey, too precious to display or speak of when Kreia and her thieving brats could simply take whatever they wished, and Rose was excited to get it all set up before her friend came back from her studies. She was stretched so thin now, between learning to be a princess and planning her wedding and studying with Ahsoka, it took a combined effort from Rose and BeeBee and Ben just ensure she slept and ate regularly. The short, round boggan had warmed to Rose immediately, and when she witnessed the maid’s fierce devotion to Rey, she had decided they would be good friends, or at least co-conspirators.

Now, seeing the woman return from the quick errand she had asked of her, Rose grinned at the sparkle of wonder in her dark eyes.

“What do you think?” She surveyed the living room, hands on her hips, before looking back to the maid. “Is it fit to host a Prince, do you think?”

“Oh, my, yes!” BeeBee grinned, clutching Rose’s skirt with one hand. “I delivered both notes myself,” she declared proudly. “Now hopefully they will both play along.”

“Ben will,” Rose said, and the red-haired maid nodded. “What did Rey say?”

“I told her it was urgent and she’s aware you’re putting her things in order.” BeeBee frowned. “But she was with Master Ahsoka and Master Luke, so it may be a while. I did say we had uncovered some of her mother’s things and she was _very_ interested in that, so…”

“Let’s cross our fingers,” Rose advised. “I don’t suppose you know what our Prince likes to eat?”

“Actually, I have some ideas…”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey had no interest in taking part in the court of New Alderaan, and now that she could share her beloved’s mind and feel his emotions spilling over into her thoughts each day, while he sat at court quietly fuming, her resolve had settled. She would get her focus-jewel and marry her prince, and then they would announce their departure and take whomever joined with a willing heart. The time for patience was long passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aha, things are happening finally! We have a ship and a loyal crew, now we just need our main protagonists to get their affairs in order.

“...I failed you, Rey. All of you, but… I had a vision.” 

Luke’s eyes were haggard, but honest, and Rey had to look away, glancing to where Ahsoka sat on the edge of her desk, her attention focused on the book in her hands.

“Rey -”

“I’m sorry, Master.” She looked down at her hands, twisting her grandmother’s ring on her forefinger. “I’m not sure what you want me to say. What did you expect would happen when you came there? You already knew my mother was poisoned.”

“Well, we had no way to be sure -”

“She wrote to Leia herself! And if that wasn’t enough to convince you of the need to act, Uncle Lando spoke to you and your sister during a state visit to Cloud City!” She shook her head, still refusing to look directly at Luke Skywalker. “I don’t understand. Why even bother with diplomacy after all of the evidence laid before you?”

“Because, Rey, we didn’t have enough support for a full-on campaign,” Luke’s voice was soft, but she could tell he was frustrated. “Leia had been queen for less than ten years, and before that it was the reign of the Dark Lords. Our supplies and our allies were exhausted. Sure, we had Cloud City and of course Ren and parts of the Wroshyrwood on our side, but there countless others watching, waiting to see what kind of queen my sister would be, if she was truly committed to the peace we’d fought so hard for. I beg you, Reyna, please understand, ruling over so many kingdoms and factions is more complicated than you could possibly imagine -”

“Is that really what you think, my lord? Perhaps I’m unqualified then, as your fiance claimed. Perhaps you ought not to have involved yourselves at all.” She crossed her arms, finally meeting his gaze with a defiant stare. “You said yourself, you failed us all. I am simply asking you to explain your own words.”

“Without the official backing of the Allied Nations, Leia couldn’t order any formal action, but Cloud City and Ahch-To are small, independent territories. We both felt - we had to try  _ something. _ ” This time, it was Luke who looked away. “I knew, as soon as I touched down in Coruscant. It was so much worse than any of us expected, I wished to depart immediately, but that would have left Lando and Mara alone -”

“Oh,” Rey rose to her feet, noting Ashoka’s sharp look, but continuing nonetheless. “I see. My apologies, Master Luke. I understand how complicated diplomacy can be when your personal feelings are at stake.” 

She could see the faint look of apprehension growing in his eyes, and was well aware of the hard snap of Ahsoka’s book closing, but Rey kept her head high and her eyes forward as she stormed for the door of her teacher’s study. Turning on her heel, she regarded him with her hand on the knob, magic swirling around her as she assaulted him with the full force of a sidhe's fury.

“After all, I’ve heard it often enough from Ben. Or do you think he doesn’t bother me with the trivialties of his days? Forced to attend court and listen to your sister and your allies discuss our future and the potential value of my homeland? Or our potential  _children_? And he is obliged to maintain his silence, while people discuss the intimate details of our lives and future, because it’s  _ complicated _ and of course he cannot be  objective about something so  _ personal _ .” 

Luke stammered, hurriedly getting to his feet, but Rey was smaller and faster, and she had already slammed the door, wreathed in the defensive cloak of her wrath, before either of the two elder faeries could react.

Master Tano was faster, calling her name as she retreated down the hall the door half-closed behind her, a solid barrier between her and the infuriating seraph lord within.

Rey met Ahsoka's serpentine eyes, drawing herself up and reining in her power close, amplifying the cold, decisive tone of her voice. “I will make my offering as soon as my moon’s blood is upon me, tomorrow or the day after. In the meantime, I will practice my studies on my own and meditate on which saints and ancestors to petition. I deeply appreciate all the knowledge and skills you’ve taught me, and I hope you understand my urgency.”

The lamia’s expression clouded with sadness, her proud face bent in distress, but she returned Rey’s solemn, low nod. 

“May the saints be with you, Lady Reyna,” Ahsoka sighed, her shoulders slumping inward as she leaned back against her desk. “I will continue my prayers on your behalf.”

“Your Highness -” 

Rey turned her heel firmly on Luke Skywalker’s words coming from inside, storming through the halls as quickly as her slippered feet would carry her, hardly noticing the servants scrambling out of her way and the nobles following her with curious gazes. Her fingers curled in her pocket around the scrap of paper BeeBee had brought to her just after lunch, a note from Rose begging for her to come and look over her rooms while the sun was still shining through the windows.

She hadn’t planned on leaving Ahsoka’s study quite so early, but she could not sit still and listen to Luke Skywalker try to justify his failings, and the way her master simply sat and listened when she was obviously withholding her own thoughts… Rey was done. Perhaps Mara Jade had been right, she had neither the temperment nor the patience for courtly matters, but she was still determined to obtain her ascendancy and win back her throne, whatever the cost. 

Rey had no interest in taking part in the court of New Alderaan, and now that she could share her beloved’s mind and feel his emotions spilling over into her thoughts each day, while he sat at court quietly fuming, her resolve had settled. She would get her focus-jewel and marry her prince, and then they would announce their departure and take whomever joined with a willing heart. The time for patience was long passed.

Jykatha and Onera, Jacen and his lady mother, Queen Amilyn and the Knights of Ren - Rose and Finn and Lord Dameron. It might not be enough, though she had faith in her new friends and her soon-to-be husband, but if they couldn’t obtain the support of the full court when her uncle had begged for assistance, when her mother had written Queen Leia in her own hand, even now when Rey herself was pledged to wed the prince - clearly, they were never going to get it. 

She knew Ben would support her, and Rose and Jyka, and some of the others. Perhaps seeing them all girded for battle and determined to act would inspire more to their cause. They did not need Lord Casterfore, or Admiral Ackbar, or Lady Verlaine and her ice magic, if their help could not be obtained in good faith.

_ Rey. _

_ Ben. _

She stopped halfway up the stairs to their tower. He’d heard everything she was thinking. Rey forced herself to breathe, one hand coming to cover her mouth in a rush of fear. She had assumed he would support her, but if he truly did not -

_ I’m with you, my love. You need never, ever question it. _

_ Thank you. _

When she could breathe again, she made her way up to her rooms, throwing open the door a little more harshly than she intended, and froze a second time.

“What -”

“I tried to make it as much like Queen Kira’s rooms as I could remember,” Rose said softly, just adding the finishing touches to a table laid out in the sitting room. “If it’s not to your liking, I can call BeeBee to help rearrange things. Be honest, my lady, I won’t be offended if you hate it -”

“No, Rose…” she shook her head, rushing to throw her arms around her dearest friend. “It’s… It’s exactly what I needed. Thank you.”

“Oh, Rey, please don’t cry, you’ll ruin your make-up and I don’t know how to fix it like the palace maids,” she laughed, and Rey could hear answering tears in the quillan’s gentle voice. “I just wanted to do something, you’ve been running yourself ragged, and I didn’t hear the prince last night at all and… I thought, maybe, you would appreciate something quiet and intimate…”

Rey frowned, glancing back at the dining table in confusion.

“Then why is my table set for twelve?”

“Well, someone else had a different idea…” Movement behind Rose, through the open door to her private chambers, caught Rey’s eye, and she smiled as her prince emerged with a slightly sheepish expression. 

“I’ll just give you two some privacy while I check with the servants,” Rose whispered as she made herself scarce.

“Good afternoon, my lady,” Ben said, taking her hand and pressing a chaste kiss to the back of it, promptly ruined as he added more warm, open-mouthed kisses to the inside of her wrist and down her arm. “I apologize for taking over, but I thought…”

“I know.” She smiled. There was really no need for him to say anymore, she could see everything in his mind, and he could see her warm, approving response. Rey stepped in close and reached her arms up, pulling his head down for a deep, affectionate kiss. 

“I’m afraid I must insist you stay after dinner to make up for your impudence.”

“If that is my penance, I shall suffer it gladly.” 

He grinned, pulling her more fully into his arms, one hand cupping her face and the other pressed against the small of her back. Rey tipped her head back to meet his descending mouth, eagerly opening beneath his prodding tongue and moaning into his mouth.

_ I missed you last night. _

_ I miss you every second of every day you’re not by my side. _

_ I'm sorry. My studies are so important, and the wedding plans are exhausting and... _

_ I know, Rey. We'll make up for it soon enough. _

A familiar masculine cough sounded behind Rey, and they broke apart reluctantly, Ben keeping a firm grip on her hand.

“Jacen. You have the worst timing in the history of the kingdoms, as usual,” the Prince grumbled. “But, thank you for coming.”

“Wouldn’t have missed it.” The other seraph was looking around the room with interest, eyeing the bookshelves and the volumes that Rey had assumed were long-gone. He picked up a little clockwork dragon, giving a low whistle at the steam it expelled. “You have some very interesting ornaments, Princess.”

“Thank you.” For once, her smile at Jacen was genuine. “Rose must have worked miracles, I’d’ve assumed most of these things were stolen or destroyed. That dragon was a name-day gift from my Uncle Lando. The parts were, anyway. Assembling it myself was half of the present.”

“Fascinating clockwork,” he set the item carefully back on the shelf. “I wonder who the artist was. What a clever gift for a youngster!”

“There was an old boggan who care for my mother and uncle when they were young. She used to supervise our kitchens and storerooms in Coruscant, before my mother died.” Rey frowned. “Her name was Maz. I don’t know what happened to her.”

“Old Lady Maz? She’s the matron of Takodana now, I think.” The door opened to admit Rose again, followed by Jykatha and Onera, and Rey turned to welcome them. "I'll bet the King could write to her."

Along with the couple and Jacen, they were joined by Poe Dameron, Lady Kaydel, another seraph Rey had never met who was introduced as a Knight of Ren, and finally a grizzled old grimalkin, escorting a dear, familiar face -

“Finn!” Without thinking, Rey ran to throw her arms around him, startling half their guests, although Prince Ben Solo seemed undisturbed at the sight of his lady hugging a Fomorian.

“It’s good to see you, too, Rey.” She returned his warm smile, but stood back to greet the tall, furry faerie who had arrived with him. “This is Lord Che-”

“Just Chewy. Uncle Chewy, if ya want,” the old faerie bowed over Rey’s hand, deep-set blue eyes giving her an appraising look. “Sorry we haven’t had the chance to meet before. Stupid bloody politics.”

Rey blinked, a bit overwhelmed by the grimalkin’s gruffness, until Ben came to rescue her and take her arm.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” He made sure to make eye contact, his mind slipping over hers like a comforting blanket before he confronted their guest. “Don’t make me have to escort you out, Uncle Chewy.”

“I’d like to see you try, kid.” Shockingly, the elder patted Ben’s shoulder affectionately, and Rey stared in amazement that he suffered such an intimate touch in public. “Relax, your girl is fine. Give her some room, and I get the feeling she can protect herself.”

The Prince smirked slightly, shaking his head. 

“You’re right about that, I think. Rey, this is Lord Chewbacca. My father’s partner, First Mate of the  _ Millenium Falcon _ .” It all clicked in her mind as Ben spoke, and Rey gave a little chuckle, smiling up at the tall, grizzled old man. “I’m sure you’ve heard some stories…”

“Yes, even in Coruscant. You sailed all the way from Kessel in fourteen days.” She glanced at Ben, then up at his ‘uncle’. “So the selkies say, anyway.”

“Twelve, if you ask Han,” he mumbled before wandering off to claim a seat, shoving Jacen out from a seat in the center of the table.

Rey frowned, watching him interact with their other guests, her mind reaching instinctively for her fiance’s, seeking to understand what the presence of King Han’s partner meant for their plans.

_ Father cannot publicly support our endeavours, _ Ben explained in her thoughts.  _ But Chewy is generally given more leeway to do as he pleases. It means my father approves of us enough to lend us his ship. _

“Lend us his  _ ship? _ ” She repeated in a hissed whisper. “But -”

“Looks like everyone’s here,” he interrupted smoothly. “Let’s sit, shall we? This is going to take quite a bit of planning.”

_ Trust me, please? You need to focus to get through your Trials and my mother will be hounding you nonstop about the wedding. Let me handle this, I promise, I’ll keep you in my confidence and you can listen in whenever you wish. _


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My deepest apologies,” he said at length, looking Rey up and down like she had some answer that would smooth over this whole situation. “There are spells to… dampen sound… I just didn’t think of it -”
> 
> “Oh, of course, Mr. I-want-everyone-to-hear-you-scream-for-me. You just didn’t think of it. Sure.”
> 
> Rey couldn’t help it. The look of absolute shame and terror on his face, the reddened tips of his ears poking up from his matted hair, was just too much. She laughed out loud, then abruptly covered her face with her hands, shaking her head and laughing all the more under Ben’s intense glower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought it was time for an update on the descriptions:
> 
> Sidhe - (pronounced she-ee) basically standard-issue elves like Legolas and Arwen. Pointy ears, lithe and agile bodies, with an innate magical allure that makes people want to obey their commands and can cause temporary infatuation. The wrath of a sidhe inspires terror and shame, coercing apologies from recalcitrant nobles and sending panicked servants rushing to appease them.
> 
> Seraphim - fantasy angels, humanoid in appearance, although generally taller than average, with feathered wings and hair of almost any color. Possess the strongest defensive and shielding magic in the Realms, and can draw upon the power of righteous fury in combat when protecting their lands and people. They use an innate, natural magic to fly, despite the hollow bones in their massive wings, as nothing that large could fly without some assistance. Their mating rituals bond them for life, and they cannot procreate without a bonded lifemate.
> 
> Nyx/nyxies - black-skinned faeries of the night, they have bright green or purple eyes, blue, silver or violet lips and wings like a darkly-colored butterfly. Possess the power to walk through shadows. As they are creatures of the night, they sleep from dawn to after midday. Like the seraphim, they use magic to fly, but of a very different nature than the angelic fae, theirs is a dark kind of magic. If a nyxie's wings are touched by the light of the rising sun, they will shatter and turn to dust and without wings, they are doomed to a slow death they call 'the fading.'
> 
> Selkies - shapeshifters who take the form of seals(sea selkies) or otters (river selkies) and must carry their skins with them, have power over water and an internal compass that is never wrong. They have copper or bronze sun-kissed skin, overlarge round eyes that they are known for begging with, and can create air bubbles to survive underwater for short periods of time. Most selkies only feel at home onboard a ship, and they are gifted sailors (and pirates).
> 
> Dryad/nymphs - faerie of the forests, their lives are tied to the trees and plants they are born from, and their magic is in healing and herbcrafts. Destroying the plant faerie's home tree or bush will kill them, and even from a great distance they are able to commune with their symbiotic organism and the forest or glade around it, viewing nearby events and sensing dangers like fire or flooding. Plants linked to a faerie are surprisingly hardy, able to regrow and regenerate from a mere clipping, but the strike of cold iron or fire of the ifreet is deadly to them.
> 
> Ifreet - with bodies made entirely of ever-smoldering coal, the fire-faeries are capricious but excellent story-tellers, with mastery of flames and a natural talent for metalworking. They are immune to all forms of fire and heat, and surprisingly resistant to many injuries (provided they have time to put fire on the wound) but cannot survive when submerged in water. 
> 
> Lamia - half-humanoid, half reptile, varying in body make-up, some have horns and claws, others tails, spikes, forked tongues and serpentine lower halves. Known for their terrifying basilisk gaze which can petrify the unprepared. They are cold-blooded by nature and require a warmer temperature to be truly comfortable. Any exposure to extreme cold will lead to them becoming near-comatose and immobile.
> 
> Boggans - natural craftsmen and engineers, proficient in the design and maintenance of magical items and enchanted clockwork. Short, with long beards common for males and females, like the traditional fantasy description of dwarves. 
> 
> Grimalkin - shapeshifters who take the form of cats, appear with a variety of humanoid and feline features. They are known to be excellent spies and intelligence agents, and always know the way back home, even if they are blindfolded or kidnapped. Catching a grimalkin in feline form and placing a collar on it will trap the fae in that guise until it is removed.
> 
> Dannan - commonfolk of the Realms, they are nonmagical, but just as capable of individual intelligence and bravery as any given faerie. The majority of the population is made up of them. (I stole this term from the tuatha'de'dannan, which is just a blanket term for gaelic fair folk)
> 
> Fomorians - dark fae who can take the form of any person after drinking their heart's blood. Their powers are based in death and decay. They gain sustenance from the blood of other fae, although they do not have to kill, most choose to. The blood of the sidhe is poisonous to them, and many believe they are meant to be the true rulers of the Realms
> 
> Quillan - legendary beasts, with the claws of a cat in front and hooves in the back, scales like a dragon and the long, silky mane and tail of a horse. Their single horn is the most notable feature. Sent by the gods themselves, they are guardian spirits with untold amounts of powerful magic.

The onset of the sacred hour found them alone, finally, and Ben held his fiance close, breathing her lavender-scented hair and watching her lovely face shift slowly into wakefulness. It had been a few days since they’d managed to arrange time together, and Rey had sought determinedly to make the most of it, but ended up falling asleep as he kissed and stroked her body into languid arousal. Now she leaned into the hand he raised to stroke her cheek with a feline grace, much like her new pet, eyelids fluttering against his fingertips.

“Ben…” Rey turned in his arms, bare skin sliding over his as she faced him with an apologetic smile. “I’m so very sorry. I promise, you did not bore me into slumber, I have been so busy it just creeps up on me…”

“It’s alright. I know.” He moved a little, maneuvering her to lie beneath him as he caged her between his arms. Trailing his eyes down her face and finding her expression open, he bent and kissed her deeply, moaning unintentionally as Rey’s tongue traced his lips and he let her in.

_Is this alright? I miss you, but you need your rest…_

_Shush._ Warmth filled his mind, quickly spreading down his spine and bringing a familiar sensation to his groin, and he felt Rey’s immediate response even before she wriggled beneath him and opened her legs around him. _Yes, that. I want to… I want to feel you within me again…_

“Rey,” he all but growled into her ear, his whole body freezing at her thoughts. “I want you, sweetheart, you know I do, but… I feel it’s best if we hold to our previous limitations…”

She sighed, strong arms sliding around his neck and strong fingers threading into his hair. He sensed her grudging agreement, although she seemed annoyed now with her past self who had come up with said limitations in a bid for some much-needed personal agency.

“Oh, very well.” Lust filled her eyes, softening the disappointment there, and she moved again, pressing her slick, bared folds up against him, adjusting until he fit just right against her center. They both groaned in pleasure, Ben unable to resist the urge to thrust, enfolded by her heat and sliding easily as they found a satisfying rhythm. “Is this alright? Do you - will you -?”

“Yes,” he managed to hiss, spreading his wings behind him for balance. Rey’s eyes opened at the sound of them, and he caught a divine smile spreading over her noble features. “You really do enjoy them, don’t you?”

“You’re so beautiful,” she breathed, cutting off with a gasp as he traced her jaw and ear with his tongue. She couldn’t seem to find the space for words after that, between panting and moaning and desperate attempts to gain friction by squeezing her thighs and planting her feet to lift her hips into him.

“You… impossible… creature.” He leaned his forehead against hers as he slipped his hands up to knead her breasts and thumb her nipples. “I am still afraid this is just a dream… You can’t possibly be real…”

_But I am. I am and I want you, Ben._

She was positively loud when he lowered his head to tease her breasts with his mouth, her back arched and her sharp little nails digging into his back, finding the soft place where his skin melded into soft down. He loved that he could do this, that he had the power to draw such sounds of desperation and need from the woman he loved.

“Yes, yes… Make noise for me, I want everyone to know what I do to you…” One hand dipped down, gathering her slickness on his fingers before sliding them into her as roughly as he dared.

He had no idea what possessed him, but the way she sobbed his name made him imagine such dark, filthy things, and he wanted to draw out every gasp, every breath so he could claim it as his. “Your pleasure belongs to me, Rey… Only me…”

Her eyes opened at that, catching his, and for a moment he sensed apprehension and thought that, perhaps, in the heat of the moment he had pressed to far. It was a fairly manipulative thing to say, and he stared back at her wide-eyed, surprised both at himself and the sudden surge of heat he felt from her in response.

“Oh, Gods, _yes_ , Ben!” She shoved her body desperately into his touch, driving his fingers deep, her hands clutching his waist so hard he thought her fingernails had drawn blood. Marks he would gladly bare without a shred of guilt. “Say it… tell me…”

“You belong to me. Your pleasure…” he leaned into whisper fiercely in her ear, knowing how sensitive she was there. “...Your _orgasms_ … belong to me.”

White-hot heat flared, consuming his mind, her climax surging over them both, and Rey screamed his name more than once, her voice already hoarse from previous cries. He had felt this before, when their strange binding had occurred and he had spent the rest of the day pleasuring her, but this time it seemed to merge with his own sensations and he groaned, feeling himself spill over her stomach.

“Ben,” her voice drew him back, and he opened his eyes slowly, looking down to see her wide-eyed. “Whatever possessed you to… to say such things…”

“I…” He faltered, meeting her gaze. “Did you like it?”

“Yes.” She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly and then lifting her hand to stroke his face. “I trust you. It’s alright. I… I can promise you that, I think.”

“Yes?”

Rey nodded, her sweat-damp hair feathered around her face in the perfect image of a halo-ed saint. He smiled, going in for another deep kiss before he drew back to study her, slowly tracing her mouth with his thumb.

“Again?”

“Oh, my! I don’t know, it’s…” she shook her head as if to clear it. “I want to, but I have so many other things -”

“No, Rey.” He lowered his head again to trail slow, open-mouthed kisses down the column of her throat. “This hour is mine. Every night, barring holidays or ill health, this hour belongs to us,” he rumbled firmly.

She took his face in both hands, drawing back to look into his eyes, and he felt her light touch on his mind, surveilling his reasoning and intentions. Truly, he wanted this for purely selfish reasons, but once he’d spoken, he thought it could be an equal accord. As husband and wife, it was not without reason to allocate one single hour, a guaranteed time to set aside their personal responsibilities and just be with each other.

It didn’t even have to involve sex, he just wanted _her_ , alone, in her bed or his, her warmth and soft skin beside him. Her scent surrounding him.

“Yes,” she nodded, continuing to hold his eyes as her sidhe magic rose around them, and Ben drew in an involuntary gasp, surprised and pleased at her initiative. “I swear it - even if we are at odds, and making exception for holidays and health reasons - the sacred hour is ours, and ours alone. Do you swear it so, Ben Solo?”

“I do,” he growled, trailing his kisses down to suck hungrily at her delicate neck, loving the way she clutched at him and moaned in his ear. Looking down, he realised he’d left more of a mark than he intended, her pale skin already bruising, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. “When I’m through with you, you’ll be wearing high collars and scarves for a week.”

“That’s hardly fair.” He met her eyes and Rey smiled slyly, holding his gaze as she dug long scratches from his shoulders down the upper part of his bicep, drawing a hoarse groan from his lips.

“Don’t hide them,” she hissed boldy, reaching up to drag more red lines across his chest. “And I won’t hide mine.”

“Little minx,” he traced the tip of her ear with his tongue, delighting in the way it trembled, and sucked at the flesh below her ear before nipping it hard. Rey’s cry was a mix of pain and pleasure, and he wanted nothing more than to make her do it again.

“Up,” he insisted, drawing back. “Turn over.”

“Ben! What - why?!”

He shrugged, eyes sweeping over the bright flush that spread over her neck and upper breasts.

“Do it.”

With another scathing glance, she obliged, presenting him with the sinuous slope of her spine and the soft, luscious curve of her bottom. Without a shred of hesitation, he bit into the pale flesh of her right cheek, evoking another started cry of “Ben!” He cupped her in both hands, pushing her to rise up on her knees.

“One day,” he promised in a low voice as he leaned over to add more bruises to the back of her neck, “I’m going to take you like this. Would you like that, Rey?”

“I don’t know,” she turned her head to regard him, and he slipped his fingers inside of her, making her gasp and drop her face into the pillow. “Yes, I think I would,” she admitted.

“I want you on top of me, too,” he confessed as he thrust long fingers in and out of her slick, satiny core. “I want to see you ride me.”

“Oh!” Rey panted, her body tightening and releasing around his hand, and he wished fervently he could feel her on his cock instead. He added a third finger, canting his wrist to thumb her front, and she jerked back, impaling herself as deeply as she could. “Oh, saints, Ben! _Ben!_ I want to… I want to do all of those things…”

He could sense some guilt from her, some lingering thoughts of how such things were improper, and it was highly unladylike to want them, but she _did_ , and she was afraid he would think she was some kind of trollop…

“It’s okay, my love…” He leaned over her to lick her ear again. “It is perfectly acceptable to want to fuck your husband… I want you to share this with me. I need to know what you like, what makes you blush and breathe harder and grow wet between your legs…”

“Everything,” she moaned. “Everything you do makes me… It’s indecent, it really is, but if you must know… Just touching you makes my body grow taught and your voice is mesmerizing… I can’t promise it, but I am so addicted to you, I will do very nearly anything you ask.”

Ben Solo was speechless. Her words, her lithe form writhing beneath him, head bowed as his fingers continued to work her, resounded in an endless echo inside his head. _Just touching you make my body grow taught.... I will do very nearly anything you ask._

“Come for me,” he begged in her ear. “Show me the truth of your words, my beautiful sidhe.”

She moaned, her lovely voice strained but still loud enough to please him, and he felt her tighten and tighten on his thrusting fingers, until her body froze and she broke beneath him. He eased her though it, following the waves of pleasure rolling across her mind, until she collapsed down onto the bed. He looked down at his hand, covered in her fluid, and her bare, sweat-damp skin laid out before him, and finished himself off with a few well-lubricated strokes, spilling over her back and round little bottom.

He fell on his side next to her, tiredly calling the water basin and cloth from her dresser and cleaning up before he pulled her into his arms.

“I am as addicted to you as I am to air and water,” he murmured as she snuggled her head against his shoulder.

“It is not want, no… I mean, I do want your body, clearly, but I _need_ you, Rey. My clever, kind, beautiful wife. I’ve been so lonely all my life. I know -” he gestured at the palace around them, “I shouldn’t be lonely with all these people around me, I have friends and family, and I love them, but they have never really… _seen_ me. But you, you see people for who they truly are, and I know when you look at me, you don’t see a prince or a seraph or a knight or any of the things I am - you see _me_. Just Ben. Awkward and stupid and selfish -”

“Shh.” She silenced him with a kiss. “That’s not all there is to you. You can be awkward and arrogant, yes, but clever and kind, too. And so romantic! Beautiful inside and out. How could I not have fallen in love with you?”

“I’m not -”

“No. I will not lie here and listen to you badger yourself. You just said that you feel I see the real you, so according to your own logic, what I see is your true self. No arguments. And your true self is beautiful, Ben.” Her eyes held him captive, enforcing the power he’d granted her, and he was silent. “Now, the hour is over and we both need our sleep, so pull up the blankets and just hold me, please, my lord.”

“As my lady wishes.”

 

Much after the hour had passed, when the first shards of dawn cracked blue across the sky, Rey awoke to a familiar feeling between her legs and whispered a prayer of gratitude that it had not happened earlier. Once she had cleaned up and found underthings, she wrapped herself in her silken bedrobe and went into the living room, leaving her handsome prince asleep in a pile of dark feathers and sleep-strewn sheets. Pausing to stoke the fire back to life, an easy task now that she had been studying magic, she crossed to Rose’s door and knocked.

Rey was surprised at how quickly her friend responded, and made a mental note to inquire discreetly about the level of volume that could be heard between rooms. Rose was giving her a rather knowing smirk beneath her sleep-mused hair and slightly bleary eyes.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s early.”

“It’s fine, Rey. What’s wrong?” Her eyes widened at something over the princess’s shoulder, and she turned, hoping it wasn’t exactly what she expected, but alas…

“Rey?” Ben stepped closer, and she realised he was only clothed in some very light sleeping pants, his wide alabaster chest and frizzled hair on display as a clear sign of what he’d arisen _from_.

Rose squealed, and the door slammed suddenly in Rey’s face.

“For the love of all the saints, Your Highness. Will you please find a… robe or a cowl or something? You’re brighter than the full moon!”

Rey turned, hiding a giggle behind her hands, to see Ben tilting his head slightly, peering from door to door across the darkened, cold room.

“Ah. Do you think she can hear -”

“Yes, I can! Did you know the outside walkway goes all the way to the top of the tower? I do.” Rose’s voice was muffled, but Rey and Ben could hear every word. She winced, desperately wishing she could sink into the carpet. “And I could _still_ hear you! It’s a good thing Ben’s quarters are below yours and his valet is half-deaf!”

“My deepest apologies,” he said at length, looking Rey up and down like she had some answer that would smooth over this whole situation. “There are spells to… dampen sound… I just didn’t think of it -”

“Oh, of course, Mr. I-want-everyone-to-hear-you-scream-for-me. You just didn’t think of it. Sure.”

Rey couldn’t help it. The look of absolute shame and terror on his face, the reddened tips of his ears poking up from his matted hair, was just too much. She laughed out loud, then abruptly covered her face with her hands, shaking her head and laughing all the more under Ben’s intense glower.

“I do believe you should come out here, Rose. I think our princess may have lost touch with her wits in the heat of shame.” He crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing her with a fake expression of concern, though his dark eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’ll go cover up so you can save your poor, virgin eyes.”

Rey was still giggling when he left the room, barely managing to hold herself up by the edge of the fireplace mantle as Rose’s door creaked open slightly.

“Is it safe? Has the light of the signal beacon switched off?”

“Yes,” Rey managed to gasp, reaching out a hand to beckon Rose in close. “I need your help, please, quickly.”

She was going to have to learn that sound-dampening spell just as soon as she found a teacher, but in the meantime, she communicated her needs in the softest voice she could manage. Rose snickered as she explained, her amused expression slowly changing to excitement, and when Rey finished speaking, she gripped the sidhe’s hands tightly in her taloned hands.

“This means you can attempt the Trials, doesn’t it?” At the hesitant nod, her dear friend threw her arms around Rey’s neck, careful of her horn, and hugged her. “Oh, Rey, I’m so excited for you! Have you told Ben?”

“Told Ben what?”

“Oh, crap.” Rose let go of her, and at the sight of her betrothed looking confused and concerned, but thankfully covered by a thin cotton robe, taming his hair with his fingers, she broke into giggles again.

“I’m beginning to think you really _have_ lost your mind,” he said, coming into the room slowly. “Or is this just a… normal side effect of your… ahh, I mean…”

“Ben,” she whispered, covering her face in her hands. “Please just go.”

_I love you, but please… I have things I must do, and I cannot concentrate on a thing with you here right now._

_Okay. But I did hear you ask to have the sheets changed and I saw -_

“BEN! GET OUT!” She shouted, finally and truly at her wits’ end, spooking the qualmi who had fled to Rose’s room at some point during the night, probably just as disgusted as her friend.

 

Rose came around the sofa that Rey had slowly sunk down on, hiding her face behind her hands and wishing she could just go back to sleep for the next six hours, and patted her hand soothingly. Then she glowered up at the massive seraph still standing awkwardly in the doorway of the princess’s bedroom and grabbed the wire brush from the side of the fireplace, making shooing gestures as if he were a noisy rodent.

“Go on, go! I swear on all the lives before mine, I _will_ pluck you, one-by-one -”

“Okay, okay, I’m going!”

Rose advanced on him until he exited to the balcony from the bedroom door, waving the broom threateningly even after he’d firmly closed the frosted glass.

She took care of the bedsheets and summoned BeeBee while she was there, scavenging through the dresser drawers and closets for comfortable clothing and laying a few things out on the bed. When she returned, Rey was still sitting on the couch, watching the sun creep up slowly in the eastern sky, much calmer than she had been just a few minutes ago. The quillan was well-acquainted with Rey’s moods, and she knew her friend would only need a few moments alone to collect her dignity and let her panic fade.

“I laid out some things I thought might be easy to wear,” she said, sitting on the sofa next to her. “And I’m sorry for being cross about the noise. I rang for breakfast and BeeBee should be here any minute. Can I do anything else for you?”

“Not at the moment.” Rey favored her with a soft smile. “I can’t believe you chased him with a broom. For Heaven’s sake, Rose!”

“I’m not apologizing for that! You needed privacy and he didn’t seem to get the same introduction to adulthood that most boys get. I’d’ve expected a prince to be running to his valet and demanding a bath in the slight chance it might… I don’t know. Rub off on him, or something.” Rey giggled again, glancing downwards, her eyes going blank in that strange way she had begun to have since coming to this palace. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Oh!” Rey laughed. “Yes, I’m fine, sorry. There’s so many things I haven’t had a chance to tell you! I can speak to him telepathically…” At Rose’s widened eyes, she sighed. “It’s a long story. We were practicing magic and I don’t know what happened, but somehow we… Ahsoka says we blundered into a Life Bond, and apparently there’s no breaking it. Not that I would want to, but it has some complications…”

“Is that what you’re doing when you… Get that dreamy look and start staring off into the aether?”

“Yes.” She smiled again. “He is really is unusual, you’re right. I’d panicked because I didn’t want him to wake up and see… But all he’s concerned about are my upcoming Trials.”

Rose cocked her head, thinking. She seemed to remember the prince doing something similar, now it made more sense, and she was grateful to find it wasn’t some new difficulty for beloved princess to face. Instead, it sounded more like an unexpected boon.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud knock, followed by the ever-chipper BeeBee and another maid who made quick work of Rey’s bedding and replenishing the stock of feminine necessities in the bathing chamber. Rose ordered breakfast, making sure to insist on some sort of meat and good, strong tea, while Rey dressed herself and gathered some of her books to read on the terrace while they ate.

Eventually, Rey stretched, snapped her book closed, and got to her feet.

“I’m going to the _uteni_ altar. Wish me luck.”

“You’re going to be fine. I’m sure of it. But just in case…” Rose stood as well, feeling an inexplicable instinct guiding her as she placed her hands on Rey’s shoulders and touched one temple and then the other very gently with her horn. “I give you my blessing, Reyna Kenobi.”

“Thank you.” With a final hug, Rey departed, striding confidently to the door without looking back, and Rose leaned her elbows on the table, letting her senses stretch to follow the path of her charge, noting the bright silver-gold aura had acquired a touch of crackling purple energy.

She was not at all surprised when her senses led her to another, nearby source of that energy, pacing restlessly in the rooms just below her.

Rose sipped her tea, contemplating.

There was reason they had been two when they first formed, Paige the inverse copy of herself, black scales where Rose’s where white, a pearlescent ivory horn atop her pale white-blonde tresses. Golden eyes where her own were silver.

_We were meant to be two..._

Something about that crackling energy called to her, and she stood, gathering tea and biscuits and untouched croissants and cream onto a little tray. She set off down the wide, spiral walkway, noting the landing platform for the seraph placed between one set of rooms and the next, inlaid with an impressive mosaic of the sun and moon given equal space. It was an unusual symbol, and she wondered idly where it had come from, who had designed this tower. Rey’s bedroom windows faced northeast, the roof of the terrace and the iron-work screen providing some shelter from the sun’s most piercing rays through the east-facing living room.

Ben Solo’s drawing room faced west, his bedroom still cast deep in shadow in the northwest. She wondered what was below his rooms, at the base of the tower, where the outside wall would face south, out over the very edge of the vast island.

Gathering herself with a breath, she tapped firmly on the glass, noting the tall seraph pacing amid warm leather furniture and wall-to-wall bookshelves. _Sorcerers and their books._

“Hi there,” she greeted as he opened the door. Rose lifted the little tray like a shield between herself and the imposing young man who eyed her warily. “Peace offering?"

He seemed confused, eyes darting from her to the tray and back, before he finally stretched out an arm and held the door open for her to enter.

“You’re worried about her, too,” he observed as she gently set the tray down and gave his study a speculative glance. Rose hid a smile as he paused and claimed a croissant and proceeded to devour it in two quick bites.

“Not about the Trials,” she seated herself on his couch without further question, and to her surprise, the prince sat across from her on a low-backed chair. “But I do worry for her. I can’t help it. I was created to guide her, but it was all I could do to keep her alive. I never thanked you for rescuing her, so I wanted to say it. Thank you.”

“Rescuing her is the best decision I’ve ever made.” He leaned forward, resting long arms on his knees with his hands folded over them. “Tell me about Rey. You’ve known her since childhood. What… what does she like?”

Rose smiled inwardly, deciding finally that she did, in fact, like Ben Solo, despite his attitude and his domineering bedroom preferences that she could really have lived her entire lifetime without knowing about.

“What does she like? Can you perhaps be a little more specific? Rey’s a complex person, she likes a lot of different things.”

“No. I want to know _everything_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose: *puts on sunglasses* Okay, lose the robe again.  
> Ben: Wait, what?  
> Rose: Just... making sure I'm well-acquainted with *everything* Rey likes... ;-)


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose tossed her head in the direction of the castle, black mane and tail flowing behind her like a shadowy river as she raced ahead. Fascinated, he watched intently for a moment as she moved across the ground. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Ben highly suspected those hooves and claws rarely touched the ground. The quillan was flying without even realizing it, and it made him smile.
> 
> “Oh,” Rey murmured in his arms, drawing his attention back to her immediately. “What a lovely thing to see upon first opening my eyes. Somehow, she still looks like Rose, though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loooong chapter, but I couldn't bring myself to cut it any shorter without leaving out part of Rey's Trials.
> 
> A couple revelations here, it was really difficult to pick a teaser that didn't have spoilers so... Quillan can fly seems like a pretty obvious one. 
> 
> One last note - bain sidhe is actually just pronounced "banshee" and is basically just a dark elf version of the sidhe. You know, that weird magnetism that Palpatine and to a lesser extent Snoke seemed to have? (Or Mother Talzin from TCW series?) Yeah... Dark sidhe are pretty terrifying.

The trees were ancient, but the stone path even more so, and despite its regular use and existence here in the center of New Alderaan, it seemed a quiet, almost haunted place. Ahsoka had explained how Master Luke had summoned the destroyed ruins of the Alderaan Islands from the depths of the sea, using the latent power of his twin sister to forge the disparate pieces into a single whole. The Altar of the Trials had been the first piece to rise from the waves, and it made a fitting center for the rest of the magically-constructed island.

Hands trembling slightly, Rey withdrew the folded bit of paper from the pocket of her cloak. It was cold down here, even in the middle of the day, and though she wore slim-fitting trousers with warm socks and long-sleeved navy blouse, she was grateful she’d worn the fur-lined outerwear.

Carefully, she unfolded the handwritten note she’d found in one of her mother’s favorite mythology books and read it once again to herself under her breath.

_“Stories for Rey:_

_Qui-Gon, Bane of the Dark Lords, pg 65_

_The Fall of the Death Watch, pg 103_

_All That is Dark Yearns for the Light, pg 124_

_The First Sorcerer, pg 140_

 

_Day 5 of the Fourteenth Month, AE 16_

_~ K_ ”

 

Rey had read every single one of those stories, multiple times, so much so that the book was nearly falling apart, held together by a length of ribbon in her bedside table. She meant to repair it, but everytime she took it out, she found herself rereading those old stories, lost to a haze of nostalgia that made her chest ache.

She placed it on the altar, then removed the Kenobi family signet ring from her right hand and added it on top of the stone structure. On either side, she placed candles she had prepared earlier, anointed with juniper and mint oils and marked with runes she had painstakingly carved, one black and one white. In the center was her own candle, meant to be an expression of her true self, light blue wax colored with the slightest drops of indigo, hand-dipped and carved into a stylized feline shape with pointed ears. It had taken her the last week to complete, and she really wished she could show Ben, knowing the pointed ears would make him smile. But he would have to see the image later, if she could project the memory to him, for the self candle could not be seen or touched by anyone but the petitioner.

Breathing in deep, calming breaths, she sought to center herself. Rey was good at this, at meditation, having spent so much of her life secluded with only her own thoughts, she had learned to simply… exist, without the burden of her chaotic thoughts. It was harder now, without the constant drugs her father’s physicians had poisoned her with, but she thought of the little qualmi, how peaceful she looked curled up on the corner of Rey’s bed, eyes half-closed in idle drowsiness.

Slowly, the anxiety abated, and Rey opened her eyes, maintaining that lifted state of consciousness, body relaxed while her mind did exactly as she asked, and no more. This was the tricky part, but she had practiced it until it was near instinct. Rey focused her will into separate, equal forces, her hands raised and fingers snapping in perfect unison, and flame burst forth from both candles at once.

Now she had to separate her focus again, not lighting the center candle with her own power, but drawing equal flames from the black and white ones into the center, creating a triangle of steady orange-yellow light as she drew her hands together, fingers forming the same symbol as they met just below her chest.

One deep breath in, released slowly, and the orange flames turned to blue with a dull roar of power. The candle at the top of the triangle glowed a brilliant violet, and Rey focused on that single point of color, holding it with her eyes until her vision began to swim.

She closed her eyes, the image of the flame still etched in her mind, and sank into a cross-legged position before the altar. One by one, the Trial saints appeared to her, asking their questions.

 

_“Who comes before the Daughter?”_

_“_ Reyna Kenobi Snoke, child of Kira Kryze Kenobi and Alexei Snoke. Last Scion of House Kenobi and Rightful Queen of Coruscant _.”_

 _“Wrong._ ”

Rey started, almost opening her eyes as if she could see the vision of the white-haired Daughter of Light more clearly. They were mysterious beings, the Saints of the Trials, having no known origin, no tale that had survived to modern times, and no names. The first to appear was usually the Daughter, whose questions involved ancestry and nobility, and was generally thought of as the most forgiving of the Saints.

“Wrong?” She thought hard. Perhaps she should not have claimed the title of Queen yet, since she had not ascended. “I am the only child of Kira, am I not?”

 _“You are.”_ She breathed a sigh of relief, before the mysterious vision continued. “ _But Alexei Snoke is not your father. There are no blood children of Snoke’s line.”_

_“Do you wish to know the truth?”_

“Yes,” Rey responded immediately, uncertain of how to process this new knowledge. “Of course I do.”

_“Regardless of the answer, you still seek it? Even if the truth is painful?”_

What could be possibly be _worse_ than having King Snoke as a father? Squaring her shoulders, she nodded firmly.

 _“Very well. Your true father was a Dark Lord called Maul, a_ bain sidhe _from Dathomir. That is all I am able to tell you. If you wish to know more, you must seek the answers yourself.”_

“Thank you _._ ” Rey forced herself to breathe again. So what if her father was a Dark Lord? Obviously he was dead, and she had never met him anyway.

But her mother wasn’t married before Snoke…

Suddenly, understanding dawned and she felt despair clutch at her gut.

Kira had taken a Dark Lord as her lover. He died, leaving her pregnant and without a husband. And while that was not unheard of for a Sorceress-Queen of Coruscant… A child born from Darkness would run the risk of falling to the dark themselves.

The daughter of a Dark Lord would never be accepted by the people of Coruscant.

Unless she was supplanting an even worse ruler.

As Leia Organa herself knew all too well.

 

_“Why do you seek the gift of ascension?”_

She had not realised the Daughter of Light was gone, until her replacement loomed, black-haired and gray of skin, clothed the colors of blood. Red eyes glinted at her, and his tone indicated amusement.

The Son of Darkness stood before her, and she was unprepared to face him, but her resolve strengthened as she viewed his scathing eyes inside her mind.

“It is my birthright. I am the last daughter of the noble houses of Coruscant. My step-father rules there illegally, with his unnatural offspring and his Peragian wife. He has corrupted the altar there to bring forth legions of Fomori, with whom he intends to conquer the world. I seek only the weapons that are my right, the tools I need to save my people and reclaim my throne.”

 _“You’re an interesting little faerie, aren’t you? The fury of the_ bain sidhe _is strong, and yet you’ve managed to temper it. Which do you want more, child? Your throne or your people’s safety?”_

“I do not ask for their safety, though I regret any blood spilled by my people and those who fight for them.” Rey had spent some time thinking since Ben had begun planning their stealth assault. She had let him and Jykatha and Finn discuss the details, but she was never far from his thoughts, and he sought her input whenever they faced a hard choice.

Being Snoke’s prisoner for so many years, trapped between the threat of his ire and Kreia’s physicians, she had learned a thing or two about freedom and security. Namely, that they were not at all the same thing.

“Safety without liberty is useless,” she said firmly. “I seek to restore the kingdom to the state of harmony, the haven of expression and beauty, that my ancestors have been faithful stewards of for centuries.”

_“So you would risk their lives to achieve your own power?”_

Was that really what she had said? But some of it was true, King Snoke had all but destroyed the fae in Coruscant, seizing ancestral lands and redistributing them to his chosen dannan vassals, imprisoning the boggans who crafted his cold iron weapons and carving down groves of dryad trees with axes meant to destroy them. No criticism or contradictory word could be spoken in public without fear of the King's soldiers enacting swift judgment, and the punishment for acts against the Crown was cruel and harsh.

Even the nonmagical folk suffered, without the nature fae to nourish the crops and selkies to ensure the waterworks functioned, the people starved and died of water-borne illness. Without the nyx to guard their domestic beasts at night, and seraphim to patrol the roadways, valuable animals were lost to thieves and wild predators. 

And those were only the maladies Rey knew of, trapped and alone in a forgotten wing of the castle in the country's most prosperous city. Surely the Low Country and the Riverlands suffered as well...

“Only so I may use it to create, to give life, to shepherd and build and reinvigorate my homeland. The current rulers seek only personal power, they consume the life and essence of everything around them and give nothing back.” Rey had said much the same to Ben, and Finn had agreed completely with her assessment. “They would set the world aflame to keep themselves warm.”

 _“And if your sacrifice would destroy them? If your life, your powers, could be exchanged to return the bloom of life to your lands? Or that of your husband?”_ She jolted in surprise, and the entity smirked. _“You have performed the Great Marriage, unintentional though it was.”_

“I…” Rey paused, at a loss for words.

She had wondered about it then, at the timing and the necessity, and her vague memory of the ritual had played a part in how quickly she had acquiesced to her prince’s request. To be queen among most of the Alliance Nations meant a wedding, or a crowning, or at the very least a ceremony before the people, but in Coruscant…

In Coruscant, it was the land itself that made a queen, and the land did not require witnesses or a priest, only blood or seed spilled upon the ground.

Of course, her great-aunt Bo Kattan had been the last queen to engage in the practice, as far as Rey knew from the whispers of the servants. Her own mother had avoided the question when she asked, only smiling and telling her it was not a subject for a child to understand.

So the land had recognized her. And Leia Organa most certainly knew of Coruscant’s customs and the fact that Ben had taken her as his mate already, yet she had not mentioned it in any of the wedding preparations. She could easily have advertised that Rey and her son were _already_ the rightful rulers there, but she had not. Which meant she had other reasons for keeping the knowledge secret, reasons Rey suspected had more to do with malcontents within her own court than any campaign against Snoke.

But had she passed on what she knew to her son? Did Ben know he was now a king in his mate’s homeland? He certainly didn’t act like it. Perhaps Leia was only guessing, and didn’t dare bring it up until she knew what his reaction would be. Or quite possibly, she thought it wasn’t her place to explain...

Rey shook her head, peering up at the waiting deity and forcing herself to focus. Ben would find out the consequences of their choices soon enough - for now, she had more immediate concerns.

“If there is a way to save my lands without taking the throne… If giving up my life or liberty or happiness will restore the health of my beloved country and stop Snoke, then I will gladly give it,” she answered finally. “As for Ben… that is his choice to make. I will not make it for him, I would never ask it of him, and to go on living without him would be… Too terrible to imagine.”

 _“Oh, yes. I can see that he is precious to you. You cannot live, one without the other, and keep the Darkness at bay for long. I can sense it in you now.”_ The ashen-faced vision grimaced, a mockery of a smile, with pointed yellow teeth and vicious eyes. “ _You want vengeance. I can sense the rage in you, the need to destroy those who have wronged you. Would you allow the demons who assaulted you to escape if it would free your kingdom?”_

Rey gasped, and her careful composure slipped. She had not expected him to give voice to the act so readily, and she felt the rage he’d sensed boiling in her heart. She shook her head slightly, almost unintentionally.

_“No?”_

“I… I can’t say for sure.”

She slumped her shoulders in defeat. Surely that was not the right answer. He might be the scion of Darkness, but the purpose of the Trials was to test her character, her inner strength. Her composure and resolve to use her magic wisely. She could not let go of her anger, and she could not give up Ben without risk of falling to the Dark. To her eyes, both were gaping and foolish weaknesses, but she could not deny they were part of her.

 _“Let us hope, for your sake, that it is not asked of you. Look up, Reyna Kenobi._ ”

She did, focusing her mind’s eyes on the red-eyed saint, and he smiled thinly.

_“No person is a perfect paragon of virtue, not even your master, Ahsoka the White. But the wise know where their faults lie, and how to avoid bias. Every sorcerer has a different balance of Light and Dark, but it is your sacred duty to maintain that balance. I wish you luck, little sidhe, especially in your personal quests.”_

He winked, in a very dangerous sort of way, and Rey felt nothing but relief when he finally disappeared. Dimly, she was aware of sweat beading her forehead - this was taking its toll already, and she had not even gained entrance to the actual Trials.

 

The Father was nothing like she had expected. His purpose was, supposedly, to ensure she was capable as a sorcerer, and Rey had expected his tests to be of a more physical nature, although Ahsoka had warned her many times to ‘expect the unexpected.’

Instead, he questioned her about more personal matters, although upon later reflection, she came to believe he was probing the weakness unveiled by the Son. Her rage had come to her slowly since she’d been freed from her father’s confinement, and she had used like a cloak against the underlying pain and insecurities. A weakness, yes, but at the moment, a necessity.

The white-haired, kindly-eyed old man had begun looking upon her with some sympathy, but his questions were prying and all too familiar. Now, he was commenting on her eagerness in welcoming Ben as her mate. Rey had no intention of encouraging this line of conversation, and since he had not actually asked her a question, she decided to wait him out.

_“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”_

“I beg your pardon,” she responded icily. “What was the question?”

_“What explanation do you have for being mated already, when you are a princess, betrothed but unwed?”_

“Firstly, I am descended of the Sorceress-Queens of Coruscant. We do not need priests and an exchange of precious jewelry to make a marriage, only the power of the land.” She glared defiantly at the Father. “And secondly... my personal history of intimacy is completely irrelevant to my capacity as a sorceress!”

 _“Is that truly what you believe? It is completely irrelevant?”_ He asked in a frustratingly mild tone. “ _What about on behalf of your betrothed?”_

“He is a seraph. Surely a being such as yourself is aware that seraphim mate for life! We will be married before his mother’s court in the upcoming month, and then he will return with me to fight for my throne.”

_“But is he aware that he is not the first to -”_

“Yes! He is! He loves me, I love him, what is your point, spirit?”

Rey forced herself to breathe. Yelling at the Trial Saints would certainly not earn her any credit with them, or assist her further when she faced the real test of her abilities.

_“Love such as yours can be a dangerous distraction. So often love leads to jealousy, anger, resentment…”_

“I only love two people alive in the world at the moment,” she scoffed. “Surely that is a lesser amount of ‘distraction’ than most.”

_“Ah, yes. I can feel the strength of your devotion to Prince Obi-wan. But who is the second?”_

“Rose. My best friend," she explained tiredly.

 _“Ah, the quillan. Who doesn’t love a quillan?”_ He gave her a rather condescending smile, and Rey felt her eyes roll internally. She’d had quite enough of the white-bearded old man. “ _You love so unconditionally, it is a rare kind indeed. But do you trust them?”_

“No.” She sighed, once again forced to reconcile something ugly within her own heart. “I trust no one.”

_“You must learn to, for your sake as well as those who rely on your judgment. Open your heart, Rey.”_

“I can’t. I can’t risk it.” Rey shook her head, feeling traitorous tears slip from her closed eyes. “I… I feel I might go insane, should I give it and have it betrayed again…

_“Ah, dear child. Life is full of betrayal, but your heart is steady and strong. Release it from its cage and believe in yourself.”_

She breathed another sigh of relief when the Father finally disappeared, but it was short-lived as she steadied herself for the fourth, final Saint.

 

_“Rey… My brilliant little witchling…”_

Rey’s ears twitched wildly. That voice… that presence… her heart swelled before she had even begun to process it all. She could smell the hauntingly familiar scent of vanilla and mint, her mother’s favorite shampoo, and the voice… It wasn’t just a vision in her mind’s eye.

_“Open your eyes, my precious baby.”_

She did, blinking away tears, sobbing openly at the sight of Queen Kira, in her favorite dress of black and gray silk with the silver bodice, hair down in soft dark waves that just brushed her shoulders. She wore a red cloak Rey had never seen before, the clasp a golden disc inside another circle of gold.

 _“Rey…”_ Eyes filled with tears herself, Kira leaned down to stroke Rey’s cheek before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. _“Look at you. So grown up and beautiful. Han’s boy had better be worthy of you.”_

“He is.” She looked up into her mother’s eyes, her gaze questioning. “Mother - The Saints told me -”

 _“I know, honey. I’m so sorry. I left you letters and… other things, in a secret room beneath the statue of Bastilla. Paige knew all of it, but… that poor girl.”_ The sadness passed over them both, made bearable by sharing. _“Listen carefully, we don’t have much time. You cannot ascend fully here, you have to go to the altar in Coruscant -”_

“But it’s polluted, Finn said they summon Fomori from it now!”

_“I know, I know… It can be cleansed, Rose can do it with her horn. Rey, you have to ascend there, but you won’t have to face the other three again, only the Mother. It is she who will determine the rest of your Trials.”_

“I can’t believe this… After everything…” Her shoulders shook, tears falling slowly down her face, and her mother quickly bent down and embraced her. Rey clung to her as long as she was able, fresh tears forming at the thought of letting her go. “Mum, please! I need this, I cannot face Snoke and Kreia with my magic still unfocused and untamed…”

 _“I have a solution, though it won’t look good to those who know about such things…”_ She explained it as quickly as possible, Rey hanging on every word. _“You understand? You must cleanse the altar and return within a year’s time or -”_

“Or I’ll die.”

Kira bit her lip, nodding silently, her hands holding Rey’s in a tight grip, lending her what strength she could.

“I’ll do it,” she said firmly.

Her mother looked down on her with a mixed expression, part pride and love, part sorrow and fear. She brushed sweat-damp hair from Rey’s face and kissed her forehead again without speaking, holding her there for a long, quiet moment before she pulled away.

 _“I love you, my brave little witchling. Trust your friends. Trust your husband. But most of all, Reyna Kenobi Talzin,”_ Kira smiled slightly at the gasp Rey gave when her mother named her, but went on, “ _trust in yourself.”_

  


Thankfully, when Rey reached out to Ben, exhausted, half-delirious and dehydrated, he came himself with only Rose at his side. Unable to rouse the energy to speak, Rey opened her mind to him, showing him everything she could, and he swiftly decided on the best course of action.

“Rose, go and get her bedclothes and necessities and meet us in my rooms. Tell Arthur to take the night off, and get any other servants out of the tower.” He held Rey to his chest as if she weighed no more than bundle of twigs, closing his eyes to send feelings of warmth and safety down their mental link. “Have the doors to the Central Hall shut and locked. I don’t want anyone in there beside myself, you and Ahsoka. I don’t care what my mother or anyone else says. Get Chopper and Chewie to guard the doors if you have to.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not above throwing my legendary magical status around when it comes to Rey. Nobody’s getting in to see her until we decide otherwise.” She glanced at him, at the altar behind them and the long road up to the palace grounds.

“I’d better get there before you,” she murmured. “Let’s see if this works the way I think it does.”

Ben shut his eyes against the blinding flash of glowing darkness, instinctively shielding Rey with his wings though neither of them were in any danger. There was a clatter of hooves and claws on stone, and a loud, high-pitched sort of growl, and he opened his eyes to stare in awe.

Silvery-white scales glinted in the moonlight as the quillan danced and pranced around him, clearly quite proud of herself for managing the transformation. She looked almost exactly like some of the creatures on Rey’s new tapestries, and he wondered if perhaps they had been woven especially to her likeness.

Cloven hooves graced her hind legs, sharp feline paws making a strange alternating sound in combination, and he thought if he couldn’t see her, he would assume such noise was at least three separate animals. Curiously, she had no wings, although it was always said that quillan could fly. The beasts on the tapestries were wingless as well, but he recognized the pattern of an airborne creature riding the winds. Perhaps they did not need them. Rose was certainly powerful enough, he could sense it in this form, burning like beacon in the quiet aether of the late evening.

Rose tossed her head in the direction of the castle, black mane and tail flowing behind her like a shadowy river as she raced ahead. Fascinated, he watched intently for a moment as she moved across the ground. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Ben highly suspected those hooves and claws rarely touched the ground. The quillan was flying without even realizing it, and it made him smile.

“Oh,” Rey murmured in his arms, drawing his attention back to her immediately. “What a lovely thing to see upon first opening my eyes. Somehow, she still looks like Rose, though.”

He laughed, looking down to met her eyes, and Rey favored him with a warm, trusting smile, a single thought slipping between them.

“... _Trust your friends. Trust your husband…”_

_I’m trying, Ben._

_I know sweetheart. I know._

She snuggled into his chest, tugging her cloak more securely around her, and Ben lifted off with a great leap, pumping his wings along with his magic to gain altitude. This kind of flying was the most difficult, moving at the rooftop level without the drafts of the lower atmosphere to help, it was all a matter of his own strength and power.  
  


It was a relatively short trip, for which he was grateful, and Rose met them rather breathlessly in his bed chambers, Rey’s clothes and effects in a small bundle on the corner of the bed.

“Can you help get her into bed?” He whispered, trying not to startle his half-asleep princess. “She needs to drink a glass of water at least, before we let her sleep.”

“I’ve got it,” Rose promised with a quick smile, “and I left Jacen and Teferi guarding the main doors. So far it’s only been Threepio pestering them, but you can be sure he’ll go to Leia sooner rather than later.”

Ben scowled, but made sure to direct his dark gaze away from Rose, at the outer doors to his chambers. That obnoxious idiot was probably whining at his mother’s study even now, and soon he’d find out that Ben had kicked Arthur out as well, and the Queen would be here, demanding his attention.

“Did you send for Ahsoka?”

“I asked Chewie to find her,” she said, nodding. “He shouldn’t be long.”

“Alright, thank you. I’ve got to do some quick research. Hopefully I have the right books…” He mumbled titles under his breath as he went into his study, wide hands tracing the shelves, cursing as he grew more desperate.

There. The Dark Lord Revan’s _Book of Gems_ . He sped through the first chapters, detailing how focus stones functioned and how they were embedded, quickly scanning the chapters on each color and its relative function, until he reached the end. _Gems of Unusual or Singular Appearance._

“The Blood Stone is type of placeholder used by the very foolish, or the very desperate. Thought to be invented by a very ancient Dark Lord,” Ben shook his head. Revan himself was thousands of years in the past. If he didn’t know the origin of it, nobody would. “... Rediscovered by the Dark Lords Malek and Revan (myself), it can be used to replace an excavated or damaged gem, but with a terrible price. The gem itself is powerless, serving as nexus to focus the user’s magic in the same way as an authentic gem, it is fueled by the sorcerer’s very lifeforce…”

“...it appears red as it is filled with the user’s blood, which is slowly depleted over the course of time. In no less than a year, without intervention, the holder of the Blood Stone will die as it consumes the last of their lifeforce. This event can be staved off by dark rituals, consumption of fae blood in the case of a Fomorian, or avoided entirely if the Trials are attempted again and the wielder of this stone emerges successfully. A difficult task, considering those who make such a bargain have already proven themselves lacking in forethought and hungry for power…”

“Fuck, Rey.” He closed the book, returning to look over her sleeping form, guarded by Rose. “Let me see it.”

Obediently, Rose moved aside the sheets and fur coverlets to expose Rey’s lower abdomen. Buried in her soft skin, just below her navel, centered between the swell of her hips, the blood-filled stone nestled into her body. He laid his hand over it, letting his own energy brush against it with the lightest touch. Normally, it was best to leave a freshly-melded focus gem time to heal without outside interference, but he was careful.

“It doesn’t feel evil,” he breathed in relief, “just… neutral.”

“It feels like Rey,” Rose said with a nod. “What did your book say?”

Wordlessly, he handed it over, pointing out the correct page, and remained silent as the quillan read, her normally cheerful expression drawn with worry. Eventually, she closed the book and handed it back to him with a sad little sigh.

“What did you do, Rey?”

“She made a bargain with her mother,” he told her haltingly. “Don’t - don’t repeat this to anyone but Ahsoka for now, okay?”

“It’s always secrets with you, isn’t it? Do you not trust your parents?”

“Trust is strong word.” He ran a hand through his hair, idly readjusting the covers over his sleeping fiance. “My mother is terrified of anything Dark. She sent me away to Ahch-To when I started to fly, because the palace folk and nearby residents found my wings disturbing. And then I came back and got an onyx focus gem. Second highest rank of sorcerer, sure, but the first thing my mother said to me after my Trials was ‘Did it have to be _black_ , Ben?’”

“Oh, no.” Rose shook her head. “Go on, what about Rey?”

“She has to go to the altar in Coruscant. And she’ll need you, Rose. What they’ve done to it - what Finn described - only a quillan can purify that level of Darkness.”

“So we have a year to get Rey into the castle and down to that altar.”

“Basically, yes.”

“Well, fuck.” Rose had the presence of mind to clap a hand over her mouth, as the Prince blinked in shock at hearing such language from a creature whose divinity was legendary. He shrugged, forgiving her slip in the face of the enormous calamity they faced.

“Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *points desperately to Happily Ever After policy* It's going to be okay, I promise, but I like to make my poor characters really earn that fairytale ending!


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh, you’re going to put a disguise on it, like the one you gave to Finn.”
> 
> “Something like that, yes. Everything else will look the same, I’m just changing the color of your gem.” She frowned, looking from the ring to the three sorcerers watching her. “Umm… what color, exactly?”
> 
> “That’s a good question…” Ahsoka narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, studying the stone inlaid below Rey’s navel, the skin still slightly red and bruised around it.
> 
> “Just make it a regular sapphire,” Rey said, blinking at the immediate ‘ No ’ from both Ben and Ahsoka. “I guess an… amethyst then?”
> 
> “Wrong direction,” Ben said quickly, Ahsoka nodding in agreement.
> 
> “What? What do you mean - Ben!” Rey’s head turned from her teacher to her fiance in utter shock. “Did you really expect me to come back with… with an onyx? You can’t possibly think I’m as powerful as you!”
> 
> “I don’t,” he said firmly. “I think you’re more powerful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants some sweet Finnrose? ; D 
> 
> If it's not your thing, you can get away with skipping the last block, it's basically just fluff and smut.

“Well, it’s definitely a Blood Stone.” Ahsoka pursed her lips, tilting her head at the sidhe, who was propped on pillows in her betrothed’s bed, a half-read book lying by her side. “I’ve only seen one other, but the feeling is unmistakable.”

“Where did you see another one?” Rey asked with interest.

The elder faerie shook her head, setting the little charms hanging from her antlers to chime together softly.

“After Anakin was rebuked by the Council, they sent Obi-wan and I to capture him. We removed his gem and returned it, assuming he was already dying.” She got a sort of far-away gleam in her serpentine eyes, and Rey waited patiently. Ahsoka always seemed to grow distant when speaking of her former master. “He was dying, in fact. We should have been merciful and ended him, though neither of us had the stomach for it. What was done to him was far worse… After a year, if you wish to live on, the Stone requires a living sacrifice.”

Rey shuddered, feeling a warmth envelope her hand and turning to smile at its source, sitting cross-legged beside her with his great wings folded in as tightly as he he could manage.

“You won’t have to face that. We’ll get you to the altar in time,” he promised.

“Indeed, we will.” Ahsoka rolled her eyes derisively at the surprised expressions they both turned upon her. “I made the mistake of not fighting for Anakin, leaving him to succumb alone to the darkness. I won’t fail again with you, Rey.”

“My mother won’t like this,” Ben warned her. “She cannot know.”

“Hmm. I think we have a solution for that,” the lamia turned her head, nodding at Rose, who was leaned up against the wall and listening intently. “Lady Quillan?”

“I can do it,” Rose said, nodding. “Just give me something to focus it on.”

Rey regarded her with a confused look in her dark eyes, until Rose gestured at the signet ring on her right forefinger. “That will work, since you never take it off.”

“Work for…?” Rey reclaimed her hand from Ben, twisting the ring off hesitantly, before understanding came over her and she held it out readily to her friend. “Oh, you’re going to put a disguise on it, like the one you gave to Finn.”

“Something like that, yes. Everything else will look the same, I’m just changing the color of your gem.” She frowned, looking from the ring to the three sorcerers watching her. “Umm… what color, exactly?”

“That’s a good question…” Ahsoka narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, studying the stone inlaid below Rey’s navel, the skin still slightly red and bruised around it.

“Just make it a regular sapphire,” Rey said, blinking at the immediate ‘ _No_ ’ from both Ben and Ahsoka. “I guess an… amethyst then?”

“Wrong direction,” Ben said quickly, Ahsoka nodding in agreement.

“What? What do you mean - Ben!” Rey’s head turned from her teacher to her fiance in utter shock. “Did you really expect me to come back with… with an onyx? You can’t possibly think I’m as powerful as you!”

“I don’t,” he said firmly. “I think you’re _more_ powerful.”

“I agree,” Ahsoka nodded. “It’s why I’ve been working with you myself, Rey. If you were just going for a standard sapphire, there’s half a dozen masters here who could have trained you. Luke, Jacen, Ezra… And if I thought an onyx could contain you, I’d have let Ben train you. But you saw what happened when I did. Your power, even wild and unfocused, was able to match his perfectly in offense and defense. The _only_ way that’s possible, with as little training as you’ve had, is through sheer, raw strength.”

Rey blinked, lying back against her pillows with her eyes closed, one hand instinctively drawn over the blood-red stone in her abdomen.

“Oh,” she managed weakly. “And neither of you saw fit to… to warn me that I might…”

“It is commonly held as dangerous to give someone an idea of the gem they will receive before the Trials.” Ahsoka explained. “Surely, you know this. But even you ought to have guessed, Rey. There has never been a Sorceress-Queen of Coruscant with anything less than a dark blue sapphire, and that was Ursa the Consort, born of Mandalor, who ascended a thousand years ago. Your mother, grandmother _and_ her sister, all of them had onyx stones.”

“I know, but they were trained -”

“Training only matters in terms of abilities, in spells memorized and magical finesse.” Ahsoka watched Rey press her lips together thoughtfully, and nodded. “Do not mistake me - the most powerful sorcerer to have ever lived can still fall to a moderately powerful but particularly clever and studious opponent. But, given time and dedication, I truly believe your ability will be equal if not surpassing my own.”

“Holy saints, Rey!” Rose exclaimed, jolting her friend out of her silent moment of reverie. “That’s amazing!”

Rey just shook her head, giving them all a sort of humoring look that maintained no small amount of skepticism.

“I suppose I haven’t the training to argue with the great Ahsoka the White, so…” She shrugged, handing the ring over to Rose. “A white sapphire it is.”

“It would also explain keeping her quarantined while she recovers,” Ahsoka explained further. “It took me several days before I was able to receive visitors besides Obi-wan and Hera.”

She patted Rey’s knee, rising from the bed with a significant, somber stare that encompassed all three of them. “Do not be idle, my children. There is much to do, and very little time to do it in.”

“We know, Master,” Ben acknowledged. “Trust me, I’m already working on a plan.”

“I hope it’s more than one plan, Your Highness. We cannot afford to go Han Solo on this kind of endeavour.”

“Don’t worry, we’re all helping,” Rose assured her. “Remember, Ben has another parent who’s quite good at planning discrete operations of rebellion.”

“Of course,” she nodded, eyeing Ben a moment longer. “I have faith in you. All of you. But please remember, you are not immortal, and the world needs all the light it can get.”

 

“I beg your pardon, Master Ben, but I find it quite impossible to plan a wedding when I cannot access the bride-to-be, especially so close to the date itself!”

Rey rolled over in bed at the sound of Threepio’s prim reprimand, pulling the comforters up over her head. She wriggled in deeper at the familiar rumble of her fiance’s voice, inhaling the clean scent of pine and winter winds and _Ben_ that surrounded her in his blankets. This was the third day after her Trials, and although Ahsoka and Ben and even Master Luke seemed to be on her side, she was beginning to feel guilty about lying around all day, only rousing to eat and use the facilities.

Not to mention, she could feel her hair growing dull and stringy, and the quick swipe of cloth and hot water was nowhere near as effective as an actual bathtub with soap and oils. She heard the door slam, and the thud of Ben’s bare feet returning to the bedroom with a tray of steaming tea she could smell already.

He settled their breakfast on his built-in desk, then sat on the edge of the bed and searched for her beneath the pile of covers, his warm hand brushing over the top of her thigh and closing on her hip.

“Mmm,” she grumbled. “Why am I still so _tired_?”

“It takes a great deal of energy to create a focus stone. Energy drawn only from your personal reserves, unlike most other spells.” His arm slipped around her more firmly, drawing her up to snuggle against his chest as he folded himself into the bed. Soft lips found her cheek and the back of his hand pressed against her forehead, checking her temperature. “You’re not as warm this morning. Do you feel up to eating? You really need to restore some of that energy.”

For the last two days, she had suffered mild to moderate nausea, barely able to choke down a few bites of stewed apples and buttered rolls between as many gulps of water as he would allow her. Too much of anything would make her wracked with cramps, but she had felt as if she were dying of thirst for the initial day or so. Now it wasn’t so overwhelming, and she thought she might actually be hungry, if there was something appetizing on offer.

“I think I might…” She turned to face him, snaking an arm around his neck. “Help me get up? I feel the need to move under my own volition.”

Once she was on her feet, she felt more confident in her ability to eat, and Ben sat in the desk chair with his wings spread wide, beckoning her to sit in his lap. When he was satisfied she was comfortable, and warm enough, he reached around her with one hand to open dishes and unfold napkins, letting her choose from a variety of foods. Rey let him feed her half a bowl of berries and cream, and then her eyes lit on two small squares of rainbow-colored fairycake and she snatched one up eagerly.

“Ah, I thought you might like that.” He grinned, watching her lick her fingers free of crumbs, and his hand darted out to catch her wrist and bring her thumb to his mouth so he could suck it clean.

“Enjoying yourself?” She teased, much to his amusement.

“As a matter of fact, I am. You are a pleasure to take care of, Rey. I’d do this every day if you’d let me.” She tilted her head, assuming he was jesting, but his eyes were somber and dark. “It’s… a kind of seraphim trait. We’re like giant birds, it’s part of our biology to groom our mates.”

“Oh, I see.” Rey smiled, a delightful thought occuring to her at his admission. “I remember that day when we accidentally bound ourselves, and you gave me such a wonderful bath…”

“You want me to give you a bath, Rey?”

“Well, I…” she combed a piece of hair through her fingers and examined it, frowning. “I feel rather unseemly, and my hair is absolutely repulsive. If Threepio is to get his wish and come to bother me with wedding details, I’d at least like to freshen up and wash my hair.”

“Ahhh… Let’s get you clean, and then we can see how you feel about receiving guests,” he said firmly, standing with her in his arms. “It’s perfectly acceptable to remain sequestered for several days after your Trials. My mother always said Uncle Luke was helpless as a newborn for a week and a half, and you heard Ahsoka.”

“How long did it take you?”

“I don’t remember.” He set her down at the mirrored vanity in his dressing room while he ran the bath, filling it with some mint-scented soap and cedar oil. “It was… longer than I’d care to admit, actually.”

“Longer than you care to admit…” She repeated, looking over his exquisite form as he stripped out of his clothes before he came to help her. “But you don’t remember exactly how long.”

“It was on Ahch-To. Uncle Luke had gone to Cloud City on business, leaving Jacen and I alone on the sacred island with just the sirens who take care of the monastery there.” Lifting his wings for balance, he stepped into the large tub with her in his arms, carefully lowering her to her feet and then helping her sit down, caged between his bent knees. “Luke told me I wasn’t ready. I disagreed. So, naturally, as soon as he was gone…”

“You went to the altar,” she surmised. “And then what? How old were you?”

“Sixteen,” he confessed. “Arrogant and overconfident and stupid. I nearly died.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, I got my stone, obviously.”

“Yes,” Rey said, turning in the water so she could run her fingers over it, tracing all the way around the smoky black stone set deep into his pale chest. “It’s beautiful. But was it worth it?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure.” She looked up to find his eyes, and he cupped her face in one wet hand. “If I had waited, it might have been white. Instead, I gave Jacen the scare of his life, and Luke hasn’t trusted me since. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, there aren’t a lot of onyx-level sorcerers, living or dead, and the last one of any note in my kingdom -”

“Let me guess. Anakin Skywalker?”

He nodded, his eyes dropping away from her face.

Rey gave a little shake of her head, pushing herself up by his shoulders to press her lips against his insistently. At first, he froze, and she could feel his mind working hard to deny himself this comfort, but she persisted and he gave in with a quiet moan, burying his fingers in her messy hair.

_I believe I will have that visit to go over wedding plans. And I shall insist that your mother attend as well._

_My mother does not take orders from anybody._

“We’ll see about that,” she answered aloud, regretfully pulling away from his lips. “But if I am going to visit with the Queen, I most certainly need my hair washed and clean.”

“Of course. Unlike my mother, I am ready as always to obey your command.”  


The garden terrace with the wall of falling water was lovely, but the little alcove at the pinnacle of the tower holding the Prince and Princess’s rooms had become Rose’s favorite place in all of New Alderaan. It was terribly out of the way for most people, and decidedly cold after the sun descended from the sky, but it was safe and private, and thanks to Jacen Syndulla, it was now even easier for her access.

“Just practice gliding, for now. Remember what I said about thermals,” he instructed as he left her there to return to where the rest of their secret alliance would be gathering for dinner. “Onera should be up as soon as it’s fully dark.”

“I know how this works, Lord Syndulla. I haven’t forgotten since the last time.”

She rolled her eyes as he soared away, catching one of the strong, chill winds that swept down to an open breezeway far below. It seemed like ages as she stood there, wrapped in layers of fur and wool, watching the sunset impatiently, but eventually it disappeared. With near-perfect timing, she felt the displacement of energy in the shadows around her, and the nyxie Onera Wren appeared, a completely unfazed Finn clutching her arm politely.

“Hey,” Rose greeted softly, sighing as he wrapped her in a tight hug. All too quickly, he let go, turning to nod his thanks to Onera, who stood half in the shadows with a ghost of a smile in her jewel-bright eyes.

“Thank you, Lady Wren.”

“Yes, thank you,” Rose echoed. “Jacen said he’d meet you at dinner. Chewie’s going to be there, too.”

“Always giving orders, that man. Arrogant seraphim,” she complained. “You kids be careful, it’s a long drop from up here. Finn, nice work tonight, but I still don’t want you shadow-stepping outside the palace. I mean it.”

“Right. Okay, I heard you.”

“Good evening, Lady Rose,” she finished with a brief nod, before stepping backwards into what appeared to be a solid, shadow-darkened wall.

Immediately, Finn pulled her into a crushing embrace, his mouth finding hers and begging entrance so he could pierce her lip with a single sharp fang. She was accustomed to the feeling now, the brief sting that gave way to bliss, and she moaned into his mouth as he sucked at the small wound.

Rose would have been happy to stand there all night, kissing him and reveling in the taste of him mixed with her own blood, but she _had_ come here with some even more thrilling intentions. He let her lip free with a soft pop as she pulled away, and for a moment she caught the barest hint of Fomori crimson in the sliver of iris visible in his lust-filled eyes.

“I brought blankets,” she explained, taking a side and gesturing for him to help her spread them out. “There’s a bottle of wine I freed from Snoke’s private stock room that somehow survived the journey with us, too.”

“Rose…”

“Shh.” She silenced him with a finger to his lips, drawing him down to the warmth of the furs and reclaiming his mouth. Finn returned her kisses eagerly, but hesitated as she reached down to unlace her dress.

“Do you…” he trailed off as he watched her shrug the fabric from her shoulders, then wriggle out of the rest of her simple silken dress. She knelt beside him completely bare, her heart pounding with excitement and a little anxiety, as she wasn’t quite sure of his response to her boldness.

“Oh, shadows take me,” he cursed in a lower voice. “I wasn’t made to be virtuous anyway.”

“If you don’t want to be with me, you can just say it, I…” she faltered. What if he didn’t? What if he had feelings for someone else, Poe Dameron or someone, or he… No. She could sense his emotions. He certainly found her desirable enough. It was something else that held him back, something more nebulous and deeply emotional.

“Actually, I’d know you were lying if you said you didn’t want me,” she laughed, watching his eyes widen. “So please don’t. But do tell me why… I can sense you’re conflicted, and I wish I knew why.”

“You do know why,” he said, reaching out with trembling hands as she rolled on top of him. His hands caressed her skin, a beautiful blur of dark and light, and he closed his eyes in pleasure.

“I don’t care, Finn,” she repeated for possibly the hundredth time. “But if you keep denying us because of your… because you’re afraid you’re going to taint me somehow with your dark origins… I may have to become to cross with you.”

“It’s not just me, Rose. To everyone here, you’re a creature out of legend. They’re enchanted with you, you’ve given them hope as a living reminder that the divine exist…” He brushed her hair back from her face as she leaned over him. “They’re about to go to war against my kind, against the darkness I was born from, and you’re a scion of the light. If they find out about us -”

“I intend for them to,” she whispered fiercely, over his attempts to interrupt. “The symbolism works both ways, Finn. Here I am, the legendary beast, divine spirit of the light in mortal form, taking the darkness as my lover and _surviving_. Thriving, actually. We are hiding this now, because I do not wish to upstage the wedding of my dear friends. But once that’s over, when Rey and Ben are gone on their bridal week or whatever it is they have planned… I will have you released to stand by my side, or I will free you myself and dare them to try and separate us!”

He stared at her, his eyes searching hers for a long moment while her heart pounded furiously and she ached for him to move his hands again and touch her more earnestly - and then he nodded, once, and lie back on the blankets in defeat.

“Finn? Are you with me?”

“Always,” he agreed, muffled by her excited kiss.

Rose sighed delightedly as he moved his lips down her neck, piercing her flesh again at the joining of her shoulder to taste her blood. His low groan against her sent thrills of heat through her body, and she realized he was wearing far too much in the way of clothing. Instinctively, her claws flexed over his shoulders, and she had to stop herself from tearing it all free.

Instead she sat back, tugging pointedly at his vest and the lacings of his shirt.

“Off,” she demanded. “Or your guards will be very confused when they come to wake you in the morning.”

“I’m sure Teferi would love to make more jokes at my expense,” he muttered, but he quickly removed the coverings from his upper body, and Rose spread her hands out across his muscled chest and torso, chasing the path of her fingers with her lips. “Gods help me, Rose… I’m not going to last if you don’t slow down.”

“It’s fine if you don’t. We can do it again later.”

“Fuck, woman!” He swallowed as her hands unfastened his belt and she tugged his breeches and underclothes down together, releasing him into her warm grasp. “Okay, okay…”

“I’ve been trying to do this for like a month,” she complained. “So if I’m a little impatient, you’ve only got yourself to blame.”

“Uh-huh.”

Finn seemed to be out of intelligible things to say, instead taking her arms in his hands and pulling her closer so he could fill his mouth with her nipple, and then Rose was at a loss for words herself. She whined and writhed as his tongue flicked against her tender peak, over and over while he kneaded and pinched the other, her hips moving unconsciously as her body responded.

He drew his free hand up to cup her bottom, kneading and smoothing the skin there, and then very gently slid his fingers further, brushing against the hot, wet flesh between her legs.

“Oh, _oh!_ ” She moaned at the feel of his fingertips, just brushing where she ached to feel him, and she shifted down, dragging her nipple free of his mouth to chase his touch below. Finn obliged her, thick fingers easing inside her, slowly filling her more and more, until he had sunk two as far as they would go.

“Rose,” he breathed in the a low, intimate way she loved, “Can I…?”

“Yes.”

She exhaled as his fingers left her, but soon he had taken himself in hand, fitting his length to her, and she eased down slowly, closing her eyes to savor the sweet ecstasy of being filled. Finn moved his hands to her hips, gently guiding her as she adjusted on top of him.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, Finn.” She opened her eyes to find him watching her, and he lifted one hand carefully to stroke a thumb along the spiral of her horn. It was such an intimate touch, and her body shivered at the dual sensation of his hand caressing her while she impaled herself further down on his cock. “Gods -”

“Rose?” He searched her face intently. “Does it hurt?”

“No… a little, maybe, but… it’s like the bite. It gets better.”

“Oh.” He blinked, looking down at where she straddled him, just as she fully settled herself, both of them pausing to breathe and readjust to the unfamiliar but incredibly pleasant feeling.

“You can move, if you want,” she said, noticing his nearly pained expression. He did, and she moaned, her head falling back as she pushed herself down to meet his tentative thrusts. “Yes, like that… that’s… really nice…”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” His hands flexed on her hips, gripping her more firmly than he probably intended, and Rose whimpered as he increased his pace. “I… I’m…”

“It’s okay,” she promised, closing her eyes and extending her senses to feel his emotion rising. “I can… feel you…”

He reached up suddenly, pulling her down so he could sink his fangs into the side of her neck, and she gasped and shifted in surprise, changing the angle of his length within her. Rose had been perfectly happy to enjoy this first moment with him without climaxing herself, but she had forgotten how his bite heightened everything, and the surge of warmth combined with the feel of him thrusting erratically overwhelmed her.

Vaguely, she was aware of Finn slowly stilling beneath her, licking the bite on her neck closed with healing swipes of his tongue, in between gasping breaths. She laid her head carefully on his shoulder, keeping her horn pointed away, and found herself yawning as he stroked his fingers through her silky black tresses.

“Hey, now, you can’t go to sleep!”

“I’m not…” she sighed happily. “Just… closing my eyes for a minute…”


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can do what you ask, but it will require a great sacrifice of power from each of you. And I must have an item to enchant… something of meaning to all of you, that is easily hidden and will not be an encumbrance to wear continually. Jewelry is best, a ring or a bracelet…”
> 
> “Like Finn’s necklace,” Poe said with a nod in his direction. “Didn’t you say it can’t be removed by anyone else?”
> 
> “Only you or I myself,” Rose answered with a slight smile of pride in her work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I can totally wrap up a wedding and a rebellion in 15 chapters. Totally... *sips box wine from coffee mug* I'm trying to get things moving, I swear, but these characters just don't want to cooperate in my head...

Waking up in Finn’s arms was a pleasant surprise, given that Rose had not intended to fall asleep at all, and it certainly soothed her momentary panic to feel the weight of his arm tighten around her. It was still dark when she opened her eyes, and she thanked the divine for that small mercy.

“Don’t worry, we still have time,” he said softly against her ear.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I’ve just been so busy and…” She turned a little, noticing his teasing smile out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, yes, laugh at me all you want. You’re the one who’s so worried about getting caught.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t fall asleep.” He kissed her head and cheek, and his hand slipped up from her waist to gently cup her breast. “Though I had plans to wake you more… favorably…”

“Oh, did you?” She moved so she was on her back, her eyes on his as his hand explored her body with a careful touch. “Go on, then. You said we have time,” she teased.

She was just relaxing into the warmth of his mouth on her when Finn stopped abruptly, his gaze sharpening to peer up over her head.

“I swear to you, I’m not looking!” Lady Onera’s voice hissed from the shadows. “It wasn’t my idea to come interrupt you, but Poe and Jacen decided they have to speak to Rose _now_.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Rose cursed, reaching around in the darkness for her discarded clothing. “Really, we came all the way up here for a _reason_ …”

“Next time you want privacy, I’d advise you not to give away your location to Jace. I assure you, he does not care at all about interrupting… personal liaisons.” Her voice dripped with unsubtle irritation, and Rose remembered that Lady Onera was courting Jykatha Tano. She wondered if the seraph had the gall to interrupt them, and if so, how he had survived their ensuing wrath. “I think he enjoys it, actually. It’s been too long since he’s had someone to warm his bed, I suppose. Seraphim are weirdly sentimental. He’s probably still in mourning since Lady Mara dumped him -”

“Excuse me, Lady Onera,” Finn said carefully, daring to interrupt her chatter. “Could you possibly give us a few minutes to… put ourselves in order, and come back?”

“Oh! Eh, my apologies!” Her voice was high with embarrassment. “I certainly will!”

 

Given that they had chosen to summon her when at least Jacen and Onera and Jykatha and probably Captain Dameron all knew she was enjoying a stolen moment of privacy, Rose insisted Finn come with her. After all, he was a vital part of this conspiracy, and if they didn’t trust him to overhear parts of their plans, how could they trust that any information he was giving them was even viable?

“Thank you for joining us so quickly, Lady Tico -” Poe started to rise from his chair, but she waved away his niceties.

“Just tell me what you find so important you had to drag me out of bed at this late an hour,” she snapped, watching the others eyes Finn speculatively, but giving them no excuse for his presence. “And please, I would appreciate your brevity.”

“Ahhh… Well, Lord Dameron here had a brilliant idea,” Jacen started. “He was telling us about your illusion magics - that powerful little amulet that our friend Finn is wearing - and we wanted to ask if you could enchant other things with the same spell.”

Rose frowned, alarmed at first at the timing of the question, afraid they had somehow guessed what happened with Rey’s focus gem, but she let the blue-haired seraph continue, arms crossed over her chest impatiently. They were in a private study, Jacen or Poe’s, she would have guessed given the leather and dark wood furnishings, but the framed nautical maps and scale model ships and other knick-knacks lining the shelves seemed equally representative of either man.

Lady Kaydel had joined them as well, sitting in a large armchair with a brightly-colored little tree creature clinging to her arm, in slightly scandalous sheer robe over a simple shift. Her bare feet were tucked up beneath her, and she clutched a thickly-woven blanket over her shoulders. Obviously Rose and Onera weren't the only ones they'd dragged out of bed.

“- an insurrection from multiple fronts will make it difficult for King Snoke’s officers to organize deployments, and given what Finn has said about the majority of their troops, they won’t be very effective spread out across the country with limited leadership. Plus, we’d be helping the common people, not just to get them on our side, but…”

“The Princess has made it clear she worries that the people are suffering without a fae presence to help them,” Kaydel put in. “The wells run dry, or go bad without selkies to cleanse them, their domestic animals sicken or die from malnourishment and disease that any nymph could treat, the wild beasts of the forest run unchecked without grimalkin to cull them…”

“That’s all true,” Finn said, before Rose could speak. “I’ve heard a couple of Snoke’s pet dannan lordlings complaining about it. But anytime it’s brought to his attention, he simply relieves them of the ‘pressures of ruling’ and appoints someone else to their lands. Sometimes he removes their heads, as well.”

“I can tell you, the land is suffering,” Rose agreed, shifting uneasily.

It was a part of her abilities as a quillan to sense the general state of the land, and she was aware of dark spots, places where the fields had gone barren due to rot, or some deformed monster had been spawned from a powerful mana storm and terrorized the countryside. But Coruscant was so miserable, it might as well have been one big, deep pit of _wrongness_ , and she’d had to close herself off from it or risk going insane.

“I had to… Shut myself apart from it, for my own health. There was nothing to be done at the time, not until Snoke was removed from power, but when I could sense it, it was… bad.” She glanced up at a soft inhalation, to see Kaydel covering her mouth in horror. “Forgive me for saying it so bluntly, my lady, but I am not sure you should even accompany this kind of mission. I’m afraid it would break your heart.”

“I appreciate your concern,” the nymph said, absently tucking a stray piece of brilliant deep red hair behind her ear. “But I have faced my share of heart-breaking things. Lord Dameron and I spent several months fighting back Fomori from the Wroshyrwood, and the damage there… the slaughter… it was truly terrible. But that land was burned, much of it so coated with ash even I could not breathe life into it. Coruscant can still support life, albeit a tormented and polluted kind of life, and that gives me some hope.”

Her bright, burnished red-orange eyes found Rose’s silver ones, and they shared a long, sorrowful look before the quillan nodded.

“We’ll be lucky to have you, then.” She turned her gaze on the two lords, who had watched their exchange quietly. “I can do what you ask, but it will require a great sacrifice of power from each of you. And I must have an item to enchant… something of meaning to all of you, that is easily hidden and will not be an encumbrance to wear continually. Jewelry is best, a ring or a bracelet…”

“Like Finn’s necklace,” Poe said with a nod in his direction. “Didn’t you say it can’t be removed by anyone else?”

“Only you or I myself,” Rose answered with a slight smile of pride in her work. “Quillan’s magic is the highest in the land. I suppose another quillan could, in theory, remove such things, but… As far as I am aware, I am the only one. Snoke executed my sister, and she used her lifeforce to ensure I would remain undiscovered. I believe she also worked some magic of protection over Reyna, keeping them from executing or murdering her outright. It’s the only explanation for why he would allow a foreign faerie to carry her off as Prince Obi-wan did.”

“Hmm.” Jacen looked thoughtful. “So it must be a truly great sacrifice… something on par with a quillan’s life…”

“Not quite so much as that,” Rose explained, thinking of Rey. The blood stone had been sacrifice enough, her magic had simply woven itself into the energy that was already being drained. She had hated to do it, and the magic had left her worn and nauseated afterwards, but it had worked seamlessly. “But it must be something big, yes.”

“You mean a living sacrifice?” Kaydel inquired sharply. “Isn’t quillan magic holy?”

“It is, and there’s no bloodshed involved in this. It’s more like… an investment of power? If you were to pledge your life to the divine in exchange for it, you wouldn’t _die_ , you’d just be… promising to be an instrument of heaven’s will later on.”

“We have to promise to fulfill a quest of the gods? An unnamed, unknown future quest.” Jacen Syndulla looked uncomfortable, but determined. “I don’t like it, but I suppose as magical sacrifices go, it’s not that terrible.”

“It doesn’t have to be an unnamed future quest,” she tried to explain. “There are other options to… You could promise the gods your virginity, for example.”

There were coughs and shifting glances all around, and Rose giggled slightly, realizing no one in the room actually _had_ that to pledge. “Or your… celibacy. For a given number of years equal to the time you’d be using the spell.”

Poe groaned unexpectedly, and Jacen shot him a dark glance.

“Oh, come on, Dameron! You can’t keep it in your pants for a year?”

“What else?” Onera asked from beside her, and Rose turned, having almost forgotten the nyxie was with them. “Could I take a vow of silence, instead of chastity?”

“Probably,” she shrugged. “All I can suggest it that you’ll know what’s acceptable when we start the spell. So I’d… think of a few options, just in case. There’s always the option of a physical sacrifice, like a powerful magical artifact, or a rare legendary herb you acquired after a dangerous journey.”

“You said no blood sacrifice,” Poe repeated, and she nodded. “What if I wanted to give up some of my heart’s blood?”

“Poe!” Kaydel stared at him in horror, but the young ifreet shrugged it off, his coal-fire eyes flaring to life. An ifreet's heart was living, molten fire, endlessly churning heat in a kind of magical fusion. Occasionally, at the faerie's will, some of that heated core could be collected in special jars they forged themselves, and apart from being an undying source of fire, it had many magical uses.

“We do it at will sometimes, alright? Where do you think the heart of fire you use in your potions comes from?” His gaze flicked to Rose, waiting. “Well?”

“I think it could be, but you’d have to give more than you’re comfortable with,” she answered honestly. “You’re right, it does seem like an appropriate sacrifice, but it can’t be easy. Have you ever done it before? Given away part of your fire?”

“No,” he said thoughtfully. “That’s why I thought…”

“I think it would work,” she nodded, and he returned her slight smile, his expression somber. “You need to decide how you want to disguise yourselves as well. If you’re just hiding your identities, or if you want to conceal your powers as well.”

“I know you just came up with this idea,” Finn put in, “but has anyone brought it up to the Prince?”

Looks were exchanged all around, with no one stepping forward to volunteer, and Rose rolled her eyes.

“Fine. I'll talk to Rey.”

 

 

You're up late,” Jykatha observed, noting the aether-powered clock over the hearth. Her mother sat cross-legged on the stone floor, piles of books and parchment surrounding her. “Anything exciting?”

Ahsoka sighed, her serpentine eyes glowing faintly in the light as she regarded her daughter with a pained look. Jykatha raised her eyebrows, moving to take a seat on her favorite divan, careful to avoid the stacks of books. She had come back to their rooms in a dark mood, having been interrupted by Poe Dameron with her face between her lover's slender legs, and had not bothered to attend the meeting afterwards, afraid she might slip and petrify someone who surely deserved it.

"I didn't expect to see you tonight," her mother replied as she sat down. "Did you quarrel with Onera?"

"Not exactly," she waved away her troubles, sensing something more serious hanging over Ahsoka's shoulders. "Captain Dameron decided he required her, and she's ever a slave to her duties."

"Ah. I see."

"Are you well?" Jykatha leaned over, taking in the titles of the dusty tomes around her. "Forgive my prying, Mother, but I have never in my life seen you so disorganized."

Abruptly, Ahsoka raised a hand, bright golden light filling the air around them like a thousand glittering stars. She waved her fingers, sending the points of glitter outward, directing it to fill every slight gap in doorways and windows, every minute crack in an otherwise solid surface, barring all sound from escaping the room.

“You will speak of this to no one,” she said in a low, commanding tone that her daughter rarely heard. She sat up straighter, nodding with wide eyes under Ahsoka's penetrating stare. “Not even Lady Onera.”

“I swear by my sword,” she replied, hand resting on the hilt of one scimitar. “May I be struck into stone and scattered to a million pieces.”

She spoke the lamia's vow easily, trusting that whatever her mother had to say, she would not waste time securing the room and her daughter's secrecy for anything short of life-or-death. Ahsoka nodded solemnly, accepting the pledge.

“Princess Reyna's ascension was… unfinished,” as she spoke, the lamia reached out with a single hand, palm upwards. Jykatha leaned forward, watching as her mother conjured images to help frame her story. “I have told you the story of Anakin Skywalker.”

The image of a young seraph appeared in miniature, dark hair that ended in blonde and great black wings brushed with gold at the tips. The image changed as a familiar scene appeared, the same faerie lay dying in Ahsoka's palm, his wings scorched beyond repair and half of his limbs missing. Another man, a seraph with long silver hair and a gray-blue beard stood over him to one side, Ahsoka on the other.

“When we defeated him, we took his focus gem,” she continued. 

Jykatha watched as the silver-winged man she knew to be Obi-wan held his hand over Anakin's chest, his blue eyes bright with tears. In the vision, her mother held open a wroshyrwood box, carved with warding sigils. The smooth oval stone freed itself with a sickening pop, and Anakin's face twisted in a silent scream, making her glad the images didn't contain sound. Judging by the tormenting expressions of the two faeries above him, he must have suffered excruciating pain.

“We thought he would surely die,” Ahsoka explained, watching her miniature self close and seal the box. “We should have ended his suffering, and I will forever regret that neither of us had the stomach for it.”

The image changed, and the figure of Skywalker was barely recognizable, in black armor with dark-colored clockwork limbs replacing those he had lost. His ruined wings hunched behind him, on achingly useless reminder of what he once was. In the center of his bare chest lay a dark red stone of a kind Jykatha had never seen before, and she gasped.

“What is that?”

“A Blood Stone.” The words radiated a kind of darkness, and Jykatha wasn't even a sorcerer, with scarce knowledge of such things. “The Dark Lords discovered an ancient ritual designed by power-hungry madmen. It was first used by a dannan called Malek, who sought power he had no right to. It grants ascension, yes, but only for a time. Over a year, the sorcerer's lifeforce is slowly drained, as the stone uses their blood to power their magic.”

“But… Darth Vader ruled for nearly a century…”

“Yes. A sacrifice can made to it, each year, prolonging the user's life, but even then it drains their humanity, their faerie nature and their sanity.” The vision changed again, showing a grim view of a female seraphine in heavy chains, lead out before a callous and uncaring Vader. “Breha Organa was the last to be sacrificed so Anakin could live,” Ahsoka continued. “After her, the Emperor captured Luke Skywalker, thinking if he could destroy his own son, he would be truly irredeemable. But you know, of course, Luke spoke to him and he regained enough of his will to throw the Emperor onto the altar instead. Unfortunately, the Fomorian was not an acceptable sacrifice, and Anakin died soon after.”

Ahsoka lowered her hand as the images faded, unshed tears on her lashes and her countenance growing grim, as always when she spoke of her old master. It had not escaped Jykatha's notice that she called him Anakin, even when speaking of him as a Dark Lord. Obi-wan, the Prince's namesake, had done the same.

“You've told me this before,” she said questioningly. “Except the bit about the Blood Stone. What's the connection to Lady Reyna? Is someone trying to sacrifice her?”

“Not quite…” Ahsoka gave her daughter a piercing stare, waiting for her to come to her own conclusion.

“Ohhh… Wait, how did she find out about such a horrible thing? Do you think Snoke taught her -”

“No. No, daughter-mine. Never fear that that creature has any hold over our Princess. The Blood Stone was given to her in accordance with her own mother's spirit.” Jykatha gasped, waiting for the rest of the story impatiently, as her mother paused in thought. “Apparently, Queen Kira has been holding on, waiting for her daughter to awaken her powers. But a queen must ascend at the altar of her people, and Reyna's people are in Coruscant. Kira arranged for a compromise, I assume because Rey will need her powers to overthrow the usurpers, and it cannot wait -”

“But, Mother… Finn told us the altar in Coruscant has been corrupted. The Fomori use it to summon more faceless servants…” The younger lamia bit her lip worriedly, gripping one of her curved horns in a hand, as she often did when thinking hard or concentrating. “There must be a way to purify it. Surely Queen Kira wouldn't curse her own daughter without a solution in mind…”

Ahsoka smiled, the chimes in her delicate white antlers ringing softly, and looked upon her own daughter with pride.

“Yes. Lady Rose can purify it easily. A quillan's power is no match for the dark forces.” Her eyes held Jykatha's in a steel gaze. “This ‘mission’ you're planning, with Onera and Jacen and the Prince?”

She wasn't surprised that her mother knew of it, in all honesty it would have been more shocking to find her completely unawares, so Jykatha just pressed her lips together and nodded.

“You must get Lady Reyna and Rose Tico to that altar. If you accomplish nothing else, that in itself will turn the tide.” She reached up from the floor, grabbing her daughter's scaled claw in her own. “I need you to be my agent in this, my dearest. I will not lose my student as I lost my master.”

“I understand, Mother. I will do as you instruct.” She returned Ahsoka's grip with a reassuring squeeze. “It's not just you and Obi-wan this time. The Prince and his friends are formidable allies, even those of us without sorcery.”

There were still tears, lurking brightly in her mother's eyes, and Jykatha couldn't bear the pain she found there, throwing herself forward to wrap her in a firm embrace.

“We will succeed, Mother. I promise you.”

 

 

“Wipe that look off your face, Threepio,” the Queen demanded of her steward. “The girl has a right to make decisions about her own wedding dress.”

“Well!” The aged dryad had the grace to sound apologetic, if only because his mistress was watching. “I am terribly sorry, I mean no offense, Princess.”

Rey smiled tightly at the tall, gangly faerie, holding the large book of fabric samples he had brought her in her arms and trying to keep the frayed edges away from the keen-eyed qualmi at her feet.

“Please, don't worry about it, Threepio,” she soothed. Most of the burden of planning the royal wedding was on the steward's thin shoulders, and Rey expected he was still performing his regular duties on top of it. No wonder the man was so anxious. “I promise I will give you my final decision tomorrow.”

“Oh, that would be most excellent, Your Highness!”

“Good,” Leia said, eyeing the servants coolly. “If you don't mind, I'd like to speak to my future daughter-in-law alone for a few moments.”

“I don't mind at all,” Rey said quickly, turning to hand the heavy fabric swatches over to a waiting BeeBee. “Could you take these to my desk, please?”

“Of course!” The short woman dropped a quick bow, her bright ginger hair and beard catching the light. “Shall I send for tea as well?”

“Please,” Rey nodded.

Once they were alone, she collapsed into her favorite armchair, drawing her knees up beneath her and motioning for Queen Leia to join her on the matching settee.

“You're still recovering,” the older woman observed shrewdly. “I remember Luke's Trials. We were in Cloud City, hiding out from the Dark Lords. He slept for days, and we dared not leave him without a guard.”

“Why didn't you ever study sorcery?” Rey asked suddenly, feeling her cheeks flush when she realised how personal the question was. “I'm sorry, that was entirely inappropriate. Please, forget I asked.”

“No, Rey,” the Queen shook her head. “I don't require formality from my family. I barely require it from my courtiers.” She laughed, and Rey responded with a warm smile. “The short answer is, I didn't really have the time. I was raised by my adoptive parents to be a queen. Of course, Master Ahsoka and Master Yoda, Gods rest him, both offered to teach me, but I became involved in the Rebellion at an early age, and it has been my life's work. I had no time to pursue anything else.”

“But the Rebellion succeeded. Master Luke defeated the Dark Lords and raised New Alderaan from the ocean floor,” Rey recited the story, a note of reverence in her voice. “And King Han and Lord Lando destroyed the enemy fleet. You avenged your people and rebuilt your kingdom.”

“Yes, but all of that came with a price, dear,” Leia gave her a fond look. “A queen ascends at the altar of her kingdom, as I'm sure you're aware.”

Rey blinked, her heart skipping a beat in her chest as she met the Queen's piercing stare. Once again, she was forced to guess, to consider how much Leia knew, or if someone had informed on her.

“You have no idea how relieved I was to hear you were successful,” the elder sidhe went on, seemingly oblivious. “I wasn't certain, but Ben told me…” She hesitated, and Rey could guess why. “Well, suffice it to say, you are already married in the eyes of the old magic.”

“Yes,” she agreed softly, grateful to find Leia didn't seem to be aware of her dangerous bargain. Deciding it was an appropriate segue, she sat up a bit in her seat, leaning over the arm to lock eyes with the Queen. “Speaking of the old magic… I was given to believe during my initiation that our… coupling… in the forest of Coruscant was recognized by the land.”

She waited, watching as the Queen processed that information and sat back in surprise, casting an appraising look at Rey. Thankfully, she was rescued from Leia's sharp gaze by a tap on the door that heralded their tea, and they were both quietly polite while she poured out cups and added cream and sugar.

Once Rey was comfortably ensconced in her chair again, Leia returned to studying her thoughtfully, as she held her cup in both hands, inhaling the warm steam.

“Did you know of such a thing when he suggested it?”

“A little. The marriage of the land has been practiced by the queens of Coruscant for a very long time, but the last to do it was my…” she peered up, catching Leia's dark eyes. “Was Queen Bo Kattan. My mother told me it was not a story for children, and of course she did not perform it herself.”

“Hmm,” Leia nodded, encouragingly, but Rey hesitated, wondering if that was entirely true. If Snoke was not her father, if her mother had created her with another faerie… Perhaps they had. It seemed to require very little other than a little blood and fluid spilled on the ground, and the proper bloodline.

“I didn't know it would be so simple,” she explained after gathering her thoughts. “I assumed there would be a ritual, or at least some kind invocation. But… I won't say the idea wasn't in the back of my mind when Ben asked me to. But, I didn't know who he was then. I thought he'd take me back to Ren and we would be wed and that would be that.”

“Hmm... So the land accepted you both,” Leia clarified. Rey nodded. “Well. At the very least, it will be easier for you to overthrow the false rulers when you return.”

“I hope so.” She sighed tiredly. “I will be comforted more when all this ceremony is over and we can focus our efforts solely on strategies,” she continued honestly. “Not that I am not looking forward to the wedding, but -”

“I understand perfectly, my dear.”

The Queen of New Alderaan rose to her feet with the help of her pearl-inlaid cane, smoothing out her simple dark gray dress and white brocade bodice. Like her son and husband, Leia's tastes were for muted elegance, uncomplicated garments of exceptional quality and design, and Rey wondered if their austerity was a conscious choice. Likely, she expected, they were all too busy throwing themselves in the thick of danger and courtly drama to tolerate more restrictive, ostentatious garments.

Leia waved her off when she started to rise with the intention of seeing the Queen to the door, moving with sidhe grace despite her need for a walking aid.

“No, you rest, Princess,” she ordered with a familiarly stern tone. “I've been in every room of this palace at least a hundred times. Gods help me if I can't show myself out.”

She bent slightly to kiss Rey’s cheek, giving the opposite side a motherly pat, and Rey surprised them both by giving her mother-in-law a quick hug.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for, dear. I should thank you…” Her dark eyes held a glimmer of some private sadness. “You’re good to him, I can see it. Already you’ve become better partners than… Well… Most married folk I’ve had the pleasure of knowing.”

“I hope with all my heart to equal the devotion Ben has shown me,” she replied in a soft voice. “I never expected it could be like this… I never even really believed in love, in the romantic sense, but Ben has become the greatest affection in my life.”

“Remember those words when you argue.” Rey blinked and Leia laughed a little. “You will fight, trust me. But don’t make it personal. He can be stubborn and arrogant - no, it’s true, he comes by it naturally, believe me - but never forget the affection in your heart. Now, I’ve got a million things to do and half as many people to politely ignore. I trust you’ll let Threepio know if you have any questions about the wedding details.”

“I will. Be well, Your Majesty.”

“Leia. Please for the love of the Gods… Young as you are, you are a queen, Rey. And queens call each other by name.”

“Very well. Leia.” She met the older woman’s pleased gaze and smiled. “I hope the rest of your day passes quickly.”

“If only the Gods listened to our hopes and dreams…” She chuckled. “Good afternoon, Rey.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben watched, as enthralled as the others, when two perfectly equal bars of white light expanded from the center of her hand, and Rey moved as gracefully as a gryph in flight, spinning her magical weapon in the air over her head as she pirouetted in place and dropped to half-crouch, making another graceful sweep of her wrist before she stood and banished it. 
> 
> She turned back to face him, her eyes alight with joy and focused solely on the dark-winged form of her fiance, and Ben was captivated. He would have loved to see the expression on Jacen’s face, but Rey was impossible to look away from, as if all the light in the room had been centered and reflected onto her lithe form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting these kids hitched so they can go off and kick Snoke's moldy ass off of Rey's throne!
> 
> Updates should be back to weekly now. I had a minor medicine issue that turned into a medium issue, and then the holidays kicked my ass. Looking forward to thenyear of EPIX!

“You're all insane,” Ben Solo declared as he surveyed his friends coolly. “But, as it happens, I have no better plans to offer. So, Lord Dameron, Kaydel,” he swept his hand towards them both, “let's hear all the details. And keep it as short as you can, I'm getting married tomorrow.”

“Well, Your Highness -” Poe began, but was swiftly interrupted by Captain Connix as the nymph rose gracefully from her perch on the arm of his chair.

“It’s really simple, actually.” She faced Ben and Rey with her hands clasped over the waist of her flowing burgundy gown. “Lady Rose has shown us what she did with the amulet Finn wears. We believe that using such an illusion, we could infiltrate Coruscant individually to provide aid and garner support for a rebellion from within. Our reports, limited as they are, show that the commonfolk are suffering greatly, and there is much that could be done to help them, even by a single faerie.”

He nodded, indicating for her to continue, and he noticed the young nymph’s deep red eyes dart over to Rey.

“We think that, given the right motivation, people could be persuaded to act in their own interest, and given how scattered King Snoke’s command is, it would be very difficult to send backup regiments to every small holding.”

She drifted over to a large framed map hanging over the back of Dameron’s desk, and pointed to wide expanse of hillside between the capital city and the Low Country, where most of Coruscant’s farms and fisheries were located along the sinuous river that outlined the border. “Especially in the foothills here, a sort of gorilla strategy could be very effective, our operatives could easily escape across the border to the Badlands if they were ever caught. And in the south, where the swamps of Dathomir start…" Kaydel grimaced at the map. "It’d be almost impossible to get any kind of regimented force to be effective there, and plenty of places to hide. Plus, the locals are afraid of the swamp, so it’s virtually empty -”

“Yeah, because it’s a _swamp_ ,” Poe interjected. “I’d rather hideout in the desert, personally.”

Jacen Syndulla cast him a dark look.

“Of course you would. You’re an ifreet,” he pointed out. “Some of us, however, don’t mind the humidity, and are immune to biting and stinging insects.”

“Yeah, sure you are, Jacen -”

“I was referring to the lamia, actually,” the seraph corrected with a surprised tone. “Jykatha, Ahsoka, remember them?”

“I don’t mind the swamp, either,” Lady Onera said quietly. “And I can move through the shadows so easily… I think Jyka and I could be very effective working out of the bog. Provided we don’t come across any actual bog witches.”

“Huh,” Poe cast a thoughtful gaze over the black-skinned faerie, and her jewel-bright wings fluttered nervously, seeming to drink up all the light around her like an endless void. “Okay, well, that could work. What about east? The border with Peragus is probably the most dangerous, you can bet Kreia’s goons will be keeping a close eye out.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Jacen said slowly, “and I was wondering if we couldn’t base a small force of fliers out of Cloud City? It’s actually not far as the… bird flies…” He gave Ben a quick smirk, and the Prince grinned.

“That’s actually pretty brilliant, I’ll give you that. You sure you’re up to working with the Calrissians again, though?” He held his friend’s gaze until Jacen sighed and looked down at his hands uneasily. Ben decided to make a suggestion, knowing as he did how the other seraph’s whole outlook changed when he had other depending on his leadership. “Take Lord Teferi and Lord Ezra with you, if they’re willing.”

Jacen nodded solemnly, his brow already furrowed with the plans running through his head, and Ben knew he’d be useless for the rest of the night. Instead, he returned his gaze to Kaydel, startled to see Rey at the map beside her, pointing out small holdings in the mentioned areas as the nymph took notes.

“I know some of the river selkies,” she was saying. “I think they’ll recognize my authority. My father has never been popular with anyone, and they were strong supporters of my mother when she was alive.”

“Are you sure you want to risk word getting around to Snoke? I doubt he’ll be as dismissive of a few spots of rebellion when word reaches him that you’re involved,” Kaydel worried.

Rey smiled slightly, cocking her head.

“I shall request their sworn oath of secrecy, of course, before I reveal my identity or that of those around me.”

“Oh!" The other woman eyed her keenly. “Of course, I didn’t think…” She laughed, and Rey smiled a genuinely warm smile, sharing the moment without judging the nymph for her slip. “We’re lucky you’re so involved, Lady Rey. I’ve never been around any sidhe besides Queen Leia, and she’s a magnificent leader, but it’s been a long time since she’s led a mission herself.”

“Ah,” Rey seemed to feel his eyes on her, because she spared a glance his way, giving him a sort of mental wave before turning back to the others. “My mother taught me never to ask someone to do something I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.”

“Wait a minute…” Poe interrupted, giving Rey a measuring look. “You mean your mother, Kira? The previous Queen of Coruscant?”

“That is generally what I mean when I speak of my mother, yes,” the sidhe snapped, her hazel eyes dark. “I certainly never considered granting that title to Kreia. Not that she would have wanted it.”

“Huh.” Poe glanced around, realising he was the only one surprised, and Ben narrowed his eyes, studying the young ifreet carefully.

“Poe. Do you have some prejudice against Princess Reyna that we can clear up for you before we move on?” He asked, catching and holding the other faerie’s coal-dark gaze. Poe’s eyes flared with orange-yellow heat, and he shook his head.

“No, no, it’s not that. Just… ‘Never ask for something you aren’t willing to give’ is sort of… something my mom used to say.” He frowned at Rey. “She was a selkie, believe it or not. Shara Bey. My dad was a boggan - they didn’t know what to make of me, at first.” He snorted, and Jacen and Kaydel joined in his amusement. 

“Was your mother from Coruscant?” 

“That’s the thing… We never knew, really. She met up with Jyn in Onderon when they were kids. Her parents just dumped her there and left, she didn’t remember a thing.” He dipped a hand into the loose lacings of his shirt, withdrawing a platinum ring on an iron chain. “I still keep her wedding ring on me.”

“There are records in the library,” Rey said, watching him toy with the ring in his hands. “When we regain the castle, we can look. I do believe the old healers kept birth and death records, before Kreia’s foul physicians took over.”

“You think they’d still be there?” 

“We can look,” Rey promised solemnly. “I know all the hiding spots, and the old librarian would as soon cut off his own arm than destroy a book.”

“Yeah, that would be -” Poe cleared his throat audibly, “that would be great, Rey. Thank you."

She dipped her head in acknowledgment, and they continued planning their individual missions, but every now and then Poe would glance across the room, watching Rey with a hooded expression. The princess didn’t seem to notice, fully focused on her discussions about the selkies and the possibility of running into the bain sidhe of Dathomir with Kaydel and Onera, but Ben was hypervigilant around her, and after the third time, he fixed the ifreet with a narrow gaze.

“We’ll need stealth and clever maneuvering if we’re going to get up river without attracting unwanted attention,” Jacen was saying, drawing his attention. “I know the _Falcon_ looks like a floating dung heap, but Chewie knows what he’s doing, even without your father. However… I think we will need more than one ship.” 

“Doesn’t your mother have a finely-polished hunk of rubble sitting in the harbor, too, Syndulla?” 

Jacen flashed his usual smirk, rolling his shoulders and mantling his wings in a restless stretch.

 “Of course, do you think she’d ever be persuaded to give away _The Ghost_?” He snorted. “It’s her favorite child.”

 “Does that make you third in her affections?” Poe teased. “Poor Jacen, mommy doesn’t love him enough -” 

“Actually, I think it’s more like fourth,” Ben pointed out, grinning at the disgruntled-looking seraph. “Admiral Syndulla has always had a soft spot for Lady Kana.” 

“Oh, yes, how could I forget?” Jacen rolled his eyes. “She’s supposed to be here tomorrow for your wedding. I can’t wait to hear what hair-brained scheme our parents have concocted to convince us to agree to an engagement this time.”

 “What’s so wrong with marrying Kana?” Poe elbowed him roughly. “Too intimidated to accept a woman who’s strong enough to beat you soundly in magic and battle? Seems pretty chauvinistic of you.” 

“Seraphim mate for life, Captain Dameron,” Ben explained with an arched brow, glancing over when he felt a sudden surge of affection through the bond from Rey. “Asking him to marry for political reasons when there is no real affection between them is…” 

“Well, it worked for you, didn’t it?”

“Yes…” He frowned, trying to put words to emotions that he felt on such a deeply instinctive level. “I think I’ve always known it would be her. I… I’m not sure how to explain it, but the idea of Rey, of rescuing her and ruling with her… I’m not exactly clairvoyant, but, it’s always been in the back of my mind, like I was born with this empty space that she was made specifically to fill. How that came to be, I have no idea, but I don’t think I could have married anyone else if she…”

Pain flared in his chest as he contemplated how close he had come to losing Rey before he had ever laid eyes on her, and he felt her eyes on him from across the room. “... if something had… come between us.”

“Huh,” Poe looked from him to his mate and back again, while Jacen eyed him contemplatively, sipping from a flask he retrieved from his jacket pocket.

“You really felt like she… had a place in your mind, Solo? Your whole life?” The other seraph’s voice had a solemn tone, and Ben studied his expression closely.

“Yes. I knew she was mine as soon as I laid eyes on her.” He smiled, remembering that night just a few short months ago. “I was out on a balcony, taking in the sacred hour, and I saw this beautiful woman climbing over the rooftops and parapets like a little raiju in a thunderstorm, each little jump perfectly balanced. I’d never seen anything like it and I was…” He paused, fluffing a hand through his hair nervously under his friends’ combined attention. “I was fascinated. Or enchanted. Take your pick.”

“I’d go with enchanted,” Jacen answered immediately. “Because she’s got you under her spell still. Don’t misunderstand, I do like the princess, but Ben… You _worship_ her.”

“Looks at her like she’s the reincarnation of St. Bastila,” Poe agreed.

“I suppose she could actually be that…” Jacen raked his eyes over Rey in a way that made Ben’s jaw clench, and then shrugged. “I suppose we’ll discover that for ourselves when we see her in action.”

“I’m sorry, have you lost your wits, Syndulla? She’s got a white sapphire! We might as well be taking Ahsoka herself into battle!”

Poe defended her exuberantly, as usual placing his bets on raw power rather than skill or cunning. Ben hated to disillusion the man when he was speaking in his fiance’s defense, but he had to shake his head at that.

“Ahsoka is hundreds of years old, Poe,” he cautioned. “The power of a sorcerer is only as good as her ability to channel it. I’m proud of her ascension, but please remember, she’s had precious little training. Holing up with Ahsoka and Luke for extensive studying ten hours a day can only make up so much.”

“Hmm.” Jacen’s aquamarine eyes held Ben’s as he began to speak. “Have you put any thought to her combat skills? I trust Ahsoka to teach her well, but Master Luke is a pacifist, and we cannot afford for hesitation when we’re in the thick of it.”

“You’ve got a point,” he sighed again, eyeing the blue-haired seraph’s flask enviously. “I suppose after the wedding, we’ll need to start working with the other knights -”

“Let me handle her combat training, Solo,” Jacen suggested suddenly. “Look, I know you’re probably afraid I’ll be too hard on her, but if she’s been spending ten hours with Luke and Ahsoka, she can't be as fragile as she looks. And we’re not exactly up to our ears in sorcerers around here, besides the old masters there’s just us and Ezra and Onera.” 

“Did I hear my name?” The nyxie stepped across the room in her little flitting way, half hopping and half dancing, her jewel-bright eyes alert. Ben smirked at Jacen’s scowl, feeling just a tad unsympathetic at his fellow seraph’s slip up. “You ought to know better than to whisper secrets about me, Jace.”

“It wasn’t about you -” 

“But since you’re here anyway,” Ben spoke over him smoothly, raising his voice in a tone of command. “We were discussing potential arms practice for my bride. Jacen fears she won’t be prepared to handle herself when we infiltrate Coruscant.”

“I see.” Onera glanced back and forth between the two disgruntled-looking seraphs, then arched a brow at Poe Dameron, who leaned against the wall between their chairs. “You want me to teach her combat magic?” 

“I assumed we’d start with basic combat skills,” Jacen said with an eyeroll. “I doubt the girl’s ever held a weapon before.” 

“Well, why don’t you just ask her?” Onera gave him a disgusted scowl, quickly dropped when she turned to beckon Rey over to join them. “Jacen was asking what sort of combat skills you might have, my lady,” she explained in a conversational tone. “I believe he was going to offer to teach you.” 

“Oh!” Rey looked at Ben, who gave her an encouraging nod. “I haven’t… We were still on staves when King Snoke sent the old armsmaster away. I’ve sparred with Phasma on and off, but we had to be stealthy to avoid our parents. I think it’s the only time she ever acknowledged my existence.” 

“So you’ve never held a sword,” Jacen said with a faint sneer that made Ben’s hackles rise again. But before he could open his mouth, Rey interrupted him. 

“I don’t really like the balance. It’s not as lethal, but I can move easier with a staff, it just flows better,” she shrugged. “I’ve practiced the light-blade spell with Ahsoka enough times that I can make it become a sword if I concentrate, but as soon as I have to move and defend myself, it goes back to a double-blade. It’s hard to fight my own instincts.” 

Jacen was staring at her with his mouth half-open, and Ben could not hide his sudden bark of laughter, nor could Poe it seemed, who choked in the act of drinking from the seraph’s flask. Onera crossed her arms over her chest, giving them all a self-satisfied sly grin. 

“I beg your pardon,” Rey frowned at Jacen, her expression the picture of concerned innocence. “Have I said something… offensive, my lord?”

“No,” he scowled, and Poe gripped Ben’s shoulder, laughing so hard his eyes steamed and he gasped for breath. Onera snickered behind her hand as well, and Rey only stood, gazing at them all with profound confusion. 

“What…?”

 “Nevermind, Princess,” Jacen said firmly, reclaiming his flask from Poe. “If it’s acceptable to you, we’ll both help you… hone your instincts.” His eyes flicked quickly to Onera. “If Lady Onera doesn’t mind.” 

“Oh no,” the nyxie grinned again, “I’ll be there, bright and early at just after noon. Say for about… two hours? In the smaller courtyard behind my parents’ suite? We wouldn’t want to disturb the Nightfall Squadron’s regular exercises.” 

“I think I’ll be free once we return from our, ah… retreat after the wedding,” Rey answered solemnly, giving Ben a curious look. 

_What exactly do you all find so amusing? Jacen looks like he swallowed a sour berry._

_Ahh… Lord Syndulla made the comment that you might be too inexperienced to react appropriately in a pitched battle. He offered to train you, and Onera happened to hear him whispering._

“I’m sure that will be fine, Lady Rey,” Onera assured her, giving her arm a gentle squeeze. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go on watch in an hour. My lord prince,” she nodded lowly to Ben, and he inclined his head politely, both of them still harboring a slight smirk. “Captain Dameron. Lord Syndulla,” she winked pointedly at Jacen as she departed. 

_Okay, and…?_

_Do you have any idea how difficult it is to modify a blade spell? As far as I know, Ahsoka’s double swords is the most extreme example. I’ve never heard of anyone making a… light staff._  

_Oh. I just… She said to imagine a weapon in my hand, and it was the first thing I thought of…_

“Excuse me, Lady Rey,” Jacen shifted in his seat, clearly making an effort to be less snide towards her. “I don’t suppose you’d care to give us a demonstration of your blade-staff spell.”

“Oh no, I don’t mind.” She stepped out to the middle of the room, glancing around to be sure of her space before she began to move her wrist in a fluid figure-eight and hum softly. “Stand back, please.” 

Ben watched, as enthralled as the others, when two perfectly equal bars of white light expanded from the center of her hand, and Rey moved as gracefully as a gryph in flight, spinning her magical weapon in the air over her head as she pirouetted in place and dropped to half-crouch, making another graceful sweep of her wrist before she stood and banished it. 

She turned back to face him, her eyes alight with joy and focused solely on the dark-winged form of her fiance, and Ben was captivated. He would have loved to see the expression on Jacen’s face, but Rey was impossible to look away from, as if all the light in the room had been centered and reflected onto her lithe form.

He moved to embrace her, and she laughed as Poe Dameron clapped from behind him, and Jacen said something grudgingly, but not precisely hateful, about sidhe stealing the show.

 _Was that… okay?_  

“Saints alive, woman! That was breathtaking!” He praised, breathing in the scent of his cedarwood soap in her soft russet waves. 

“Oh please. My summoning is too slow -” 

“Rey, just take the compliment. Let Jacen tear you apart when you’re training. Believe me, he will.” Ben sighed. “I love you too much to criticize you properly.” 

“Oh. I -” He kissed her firmly, hungrily, not caring that his friends were standing around, that they were literally in the middle of the room and everyone was watching, and Rey made a soft noise of appreciation, her hands gripping his shoulders possessively as she leaned into him. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. You’re getting married _tomorrow_ ,” Jacen complained.

He couldn’t help himself, he smiled against her mouth, and Rey gave a little giggle, reluctantly letting him go. 

 _You’d better go back to your rooms and be a good girl. I can’t be responsible for my actions after I’ve had some of Jacen’s moonshine._  

_You had better go to bed, too, Ben Solo. I have plans for you tomorrow night, and they don’t involve much sleeping._

 

The ceremony did not start until two candlemarks past noon, but Rey was awake at the crack of dawn anyway. She was too nervous to go back to sleep, having already struggled fitfully since she woke for the sacred hour to talk about the future with her soon-to-be husband. 

As soon as the light shining through her window was bright enough, she rang for BeeBee and asked to have breakfast brought to the balcony. That was where Rose found her, sipping tea and reading her favorite book of Alderaanian poetry.

“Mind if I join you?” The quillan was already eyeing the plate full of pastries that accompanied the tea pot, and Rey looked over the edge of her book with a warm smile.

“Not at all.” She gestured to an empty chair. “Help yourself.” 

Rose piled a few raspberry danishes onto a plate and poured herself tea, glancing over at the book in Rey's hands. 

“So how long have you been up?”

 “I tossed and turned after the sacred hour, but I gave up around dawn,” she answered ruefully. “Thus the dragonflower tea. It's stronger than caf.”

 “Is it?” Rose took an experimental sip, reaching for the sugar to add another spoonful. “Oh, I could get used to this.” 

“It's what Ahsoka prefers,” Rey explained.

They sat quietly for a while, both women accustomed to enjoying each other's company in friendly silence, until BeeBee came rushing out from the half-open interior door. 

“Your Highness -” she gulped, having obviously run across the palace, and Rey and Rose both got to their feet. “Your cousin - Mara and Lord Lando - just arrived. She's - just behind - tried to get here fast -” 

“Lady Mara is coming here? Now?” Rose gathered looking up at Rey as the round-bellied little boggan nodded. “Alright, BeeBee, you help Lady Reyna prepare, I'll run interference.” 

“Thank you,” Rey said, reaching over to squeeze her friend's taloned hand before following her maid into her bed chamber from the terrace. 

She was in her dressing room, wrapped up in a fluffy lavender dressing gown with her freshly-shampooed hair drying under a towel when Rose came to find her. The unmistakable tall, flame-haired form of her cousin entered just behind the quillan, and Rose stood against the door watchfully as Lady Mara cautiously approached.

“Reyna. You're all grown up,” the other sidhe murmured, almost to herself. She opened her mouth a few times, only to close it in frustration, and Rey finally caved and rescued her. 

“Thank you for coming to my wedding, Mara.” She gave a polite nod, remaining seated at her vanity. “I’m sure there are things you wish to say to me, just as I have things I wish to say to you, but now is not the time. When Ben and I return from our holiday, I shall invite you to dinner. Perhaps Rose could join us, as well.”

“Whatever do you mean, ‘things you wish to say to me?’ Reyna, I tried -” Rey raised a hand warningly, and Rose took a step closer, her pupiless silver orbs flashing with anger.

“I do not wish to speak of the past on the very day I am to begin anew with a new future.” She was held Mara Jade's bright emerald eyes without looking away. “Please understand. It is so difficult for me to regulate my moods, I do not wish to spend the rest of the day feeling mopey or disinterested.”

“Oh, that's right!” BeeBee cut in. “If you'll excuse me, my lady, Lady Ahsoka left a potion for you to help with that.” 

“Of course. You can escort Lady Mara back to the main hall on your way to retrieve it,” she suggested. “I promise, we will speak later, but today is just…” 

“Not the time?” The redhead's lips twitched. “Very well. I can see when I'm not welcome. I just wanted to offer you congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Rey nodded, and Mara Jade swept her a respectful bow before allowing the maid to lead her out.

“Are you alright?” Rose asked, coming to kneel beside her chair. The princess had held her own, though she was surprised the air between the two sidhe hadn't spontaneously burst into a lightning storm. She took Rey's hand and peered up at her, studying her face intently. “I think she got the message. Hopefully there won't be any more hiccups on that front.”

“I'll be fine. But I will take some of that nerve tonic as soon as BeeBee is back.”

“Of course you will,” Rose agreed, standing to remove the towel and gently brush out Rey's hair. “It was really kind of Ahsoka to leave it for you. She must know about your moods.”

“She's really a lovely mentor,” Rey agreed. “I was a bit frightened at first - I’d never seen a lamia, and to think, she’s the greatest living sorceress, too? It took me some time to warm to her.” 

“I can imagine. Is it true Lord Vader was originally her teacher?”

“He was Anakin Skywalker, then. The way Ahsoka tells it, the old Jeddha Tower decreed that its students had to take vows of celibacy, but he already had an established romance with the queen of Naboo,” she explained slowly, letting Rose’s bright, inquisitive eyes distract her further from the morning’s intrusion. “They tried to hide it, but Anakin was always a bit high-strung, running headfirst into any situation. Assuming it was just his youth, the council assigned him a student. This was during the last days of the Old Republic, and the Jeddha sorcerers, despite their vows of pacifism, had taken up the fight. By the time Ahsoka was fully trained, the Republic and the council were compromised by intrigue from within, and she left to seek her own fortune after being falsely accused of murder.” 

“Oh, good gods,” Rose shook her head. “Clearly, I wasn’t paying enough attention to our history tutors.” 

“I don’t know about that,” Rey shrugged. “My father fed us edited stories to fit his agenda, and he worshipped Vader. I only knew of Ahsoka from reading the texts - for some reason, Snoke and Kreia never thought to limit my access to the library.”

“They got rid of your mother’s books and assumed the rest would be too old and uninteresting for a sidhe princess,” Rose smirked. “Fools.” 

“Yes they are. But clever, cunning fools.” 

“The most dangerous kind,” Rose agreed.

 

The idea of getting married under the uteni altar had seemed an odd suggestion to Ben, the strangely-twisted branches forming a natural arch over the stone grotto carved out of the island’s heart weren’t exactly festive. Now that he had time to examine the decorations, however, he could see the ingenuity in Rey’s vision.

Tiny kodoma sprites flitted and perched in the ancient branches, their faint light glowing throughout the arch and beyond like a thousand flickering stars, bringing out the warmer nature of the violet and deep blue ribbons woven around everything. Small bouquets - little more than sprigs - of violets and blue bonnets were scattered wherever there was room, with larger arrangements decorating the sides of the white wooden benches that had been placed along the walkway. A runner of blue velvet lead down the center, over the large, rounded stones, ending just before the arch, where Ben stood with his uncle Luke officiating and Jykatha at his elbow as his second. Threepio had been less than pleased at his insistence that she be the one to stand for him, but Jacen had refused the responsibilities and she was the only other friend he trusted enough to ask. Resplendent in dark, wide-legged silk pants and silver-embroidered leather armor with a soft, sleek velvet greatcoat, the lamia looked the part splendidly, and even Threepio had admitted with a sigh that she was handsome enough for the portraits. 

She gave him a steadying smile, inclining her head to whisper a few words of encouragement. 

“Just think of tonight, when this is all over, and you can just be Ben and Rey again without everyone fussing over you.” The lamia winked, and he coughed, clearing his throat audibly. 

The harpist in the back of the aisle had suddenly stopped playing the gentle background melody, and the guests rose to their feet, his father and mother both glancing his way from their seat at the very front before turning to watch. Rose entered first, in a rich blue gown with silver and violet brocade at the top of the bodice and at intervals around the skirts, carrying a simple bouquet of violets and white carnations around a single, bright silver thunder rose that attracted ‘oos’ and ‘aahs’ from the assembled crowd. She smiled at Ben as she took her place, but he barely noticed it, his eyes were glued to the shimmer of air at the end of the velvet runner, where Ahsoka had placed a glamour shielding those on the other side from view.

The sorceress entered first, pausing with her right arm still behind the glamour, and then the harpist began the familiar strains and the lamia stepped forward, drawing Rey with her, and Ben couldn’t _breathe_.

She was a sidhe, uncannily beautiful even in her most casual dress, but this was a vision, a saint in sapphire and lace, dark eyes dusted with white and purple coloring searched out his and stayed there with singular focus. He registered the dress itself in pieces, first noting her chestnut hair, curled and partly swept back from her face, arranged around her heirloom tiara with silver combs that also held the delicate lace veil covering her face and falling back over her shoulders. Little sprigs of blue bells had been tucked behind her ears, and his fingers twitched with the urge to trace them over her slender eartips. His eyes caught an expanse of cream-soft skin below them, and he finally let his gaze drop down, over her bare shoulders to the dove-gray lace that covered the tops of her breasts, slender holes giving tantalizing glimpses of the flesh beneath. Swathes of dark sapphire cloth fit cleverly underneath the trails of lace, covering the rest of her body with only a single cut-out over her focus stone, the enchantment showing a pristine white star sapphire, pale lines just visible in the shifting afternoon light. 

As she took her place beside him, he saw the little spots of violet blossoms interspersed amid the veil and lace, looking fresh and lively under some kind of spell. They trailed all the way down her full dark blue skirts, edging and overlapping the lace trim, expanding out to the very end of the long train. Elegant sleeves of more lace with the same enchanted flowers covered her arms, her skin visible beneath the decorative accents that ended just below her exposed shoulder.

He took her hand almost blindly when she reached out to him, leaning in to allow Ahsoka a quick peck on her cheek before she turned her gaze back to him, eyes sparkling. He closed his fingers over hers, and Rey made a soft, content noise, her eyelashes fluttering before she exhaled and forced her eyes to stay open. Ben brought her hand to his lips, placing a warm, slow kiss on the back of it, vaguely registering Jykatha’s low voice rumble with gentle mockery, while Rose sniggered behind the bouquets in her hands. 

“Ben,” his uncle said, sounding mildly perturbed. Rey flashed him a guilty look, and he realised Luke had been trying to get their attention for a few moments. “Ah,” the elder seraph began when they both turned to him. “Now that I have your attention, let us begin.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s gorgeous!” Her eyes danced beautifully when she turned to look up at him. “Is the lake part of it, too? Is that a waterfall?”
> 
> “Yes, and yes.” He pressed his lips against her neck, trailing soft, lazy kisses up to her earlobe, which he nibbled gently. “Say thank you,” he murmured in her ear. “And maybe invite me inside, so we can explore your new estate more… thoroughly.”
> 
> “This is… You brought me here to give me this place?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, newlyweds. Sorry, but I just love the Rey gets Padmè's lakehouse trope, because reasons. Anyway, here's some honeymoon fluff.

Rey tried to pay attention to the sacred verses Luke was reading aloud, but it was a difficult thing when she had to fight the overwhelming urge to wrap her body around the gorgeous prince beside her. They knelt together on the little bench, Jain scurrying out to help with Rey’s skirts and train, ensuring no one in the audience noticed her little secret beneath them, and her heart thundered against her ribs when his hand braced her back, the warmth of his touch seeping in through the layers of fabric.

His wings flared as he lowered himself beside her, the soft feathers brushing her bare shoulders, and she bit her lip to keep from making some kind of lewd noise. He really did bring out a whole other personality within her, something that needed and boldly demanded, that declared possessively in little dark moments: _mine, mine, mine._ She found her thoughts straying there now, as she cast her eyes over his velvet brocade jacket, dark blue with silver accents to match her dress, fitted over his light armor. He wore his hair down, but reined in some by the silver coronet she had talked him into, and his hands were ungloved but for the polished leather bracers laced over his wrists.

It was indecent, really, that coat. There ought to be laws against a man looking so ridiculously edible in velvet, and there certainly should be laws against Ben Solo wearing it. Her hand trembled as she gripped the arm he held out to help her stand, the soft material crushed against hard muscle, and she couldn’t keep herself from an extra stroke of her fingers over it.

_Alright, sweetheart?_

_Yes, I'm sorry. I just can't wait until we're alone._

Ben swallowed audibly, and when she glanced over his eyes were wide and dark, his gaze practically stripping her bare. A few deep breaths, and she turned her attention back to Luke, who had brought out the large golden unity candle and set it before them. Her hand still trembled slightly when she accepted the lit golden taper from Rose, but she managed to join her flame with Ben's and light the ancient wick without dripping wax everywhere.

“Let the fire in your hearts be a single flame,” Luke intoned, and they repeated.

He waved his hand, moving the candle away to take its place in the southern cardinal position, and took up the chalice of holy water.

“Let the water you draw come from a single well.”

They both drank of the chalice from each others hands, but Rey's shook so as she raised the vessel that her new husband had to reach out and steady her with a hand on her wrist. He didn't seem to judge her for it, and if Luke noticed, he made no comment, continuing to direct them as they each claimed a small jar of soil from Rose and Jykatha and added it to a larger container.

“Let your seeds take root and flower in a shared garden.”

The clay vessel of soil was waved into position on Rey's left, between the fire behind them and the water at Luke's back, all three ritual items floating in midair. Ahsoka had said the marriage ritual was a tricky bit of magic, and seemed relieved to hand the duty off to Luke. Now she understood why.

The old master raised a curious mirrored globe, reflecting dimly in the mixed lighting, and positioned it between them. If she hadn't gone through three rehearsals, Rey would have been baffled, but now she knew what was expected. She leaned forward, towards Ben, until their faces were separated only by the little orb, and he took her hand, waiting to time his breath with hers.

“Let the air required for life be shared with each breath, one to the other.”

As one, Ben and Rey exhaled, the mirrored surface capturing the fog of their breath and storing it in stasis, the little ball floating over to take its place across from the pot of soil, to the left of Jykatha.

Luke raised his hand, carefully intoning the words of the spell, and the various components swirled up high, moving in an orbit of magic until they were nothing but a circle of golden light. Rey watched, transfixed, her hand still gripping Ben's like he was a sturdy bit of rope in a churning sea, and then closed her eyes as the circle disappeared with a _snap!_ of bright light and the heat of the spell sunk into her skin.

“Your left hands, please,” Luke directed. Somewhat hesitantly, Rey held it out, noting how small hers looked next to Ben's giant paw. He drew a sharpened dagger of dragontooth firmly across both their palms, and she let Ben clasp her hand firmly against his, gasping at the blood that dripped down between them. “Let pain and pleasure be shared equally between you.”

He wrapped a ribbon of white silk around their joined hands, tying it off with a firm knot and spoke a series of incantations over them. It felt as if the ribbon was searing her skin, and she exhaled slowly, meeting Ben's steadying gaze.

“We are one whether we are together or apart,” he began slowly.

“We will share everything,” she responded, “and we shall raise our children to be strong and kind.”

He pulled her towards him with his free hand, and Rey leaned in eagerly, reaching up to grab the collar of his jacket and hold him closer while he kissed her and she claimed his mouth thoroughly, only releasing him when Poe and Jacen whistled from the benches.

She sensed his intention as he turned her, their left hands clasped between them, and swung her into his arms, unfurling his massive wings to their full width. With a surge of magic, they were in the air, and Rey curled her toes inward, under the loose hem of her gown.

He chuckled, either seeing or sensing from the way she moved, and Rey blushed crimson, burying her face in his soft jacket.

“I couldn't manage anything with a heel,” she admitted.

“That perfect sidhe balance doesn't extend to shoes?”

“Apparently not. I need to feel the ball of my foot, and everything Threepio brought made my toes numb in ten seconds,” she sighed. “Do you think anyone saw?”

“Probably not.”

“Good.” She nuzzled her head under his chin, squeezing the hand that was bound to hers by the searing ribbon. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere private. You'll like it, I promise.”

  


They had been flying for nearly an hour over open ocean, Rey clinging to Ben with a strength that left him expecting to see imprints of her slender fingers against his neck, before a vibrant green shoreline came into sight. Large, tropical trees swayed under bright sunshine, over gorgeous expanses of well-maintained grass and gardens, it was a true paradise, seemingly empty but for the broad-winged seraph and his bride.

He alighted carefully on a the end of a wide palisade, bracing the abrupt landing with his magic but still taking a few lunging steps before he caught his balance. Rey yelped in surprise, and he grinned down at her reproachful look.

“Did you really think I would drop you, my love?”

“I didn’t _think_ anything! It’s a bit different when you’re not the one with wings, you know. No matter how much I trust you, my body knows it’s not supposed to be up in the air, and seeing the ground come up so fast -” She shook her head, pressing her face into his broad shoulder. “You’ll have to forgive me for panicking a bit.”

“I apologize. I should have warned you.”

“Hmm.” She patted his chest. “We’re safely landed, you can put me down now.”

He glanced to her feet, dangling over his arm and still very bare under the mass of silk and lace of her wedding gown. It was warm enough on the estate, but the palisade leading up to the small palace was littered with fallen cherries and pits from the trees overhead, and with her skirts dragging, it would be quite an uncomfortable walk. Rey rolled her eyes and wriggled in his arms, her eyes on his demanding and imperious, a look of command he recognized from his mother, though he couldn’t recall seeing it from his sweet-tempered sidhe before.

“ _Down_ , my lord. Please.”

“The path isn’t clear, I don’t want you to fall or ruin your dress, or -”

“Are you daft?” She made an irritated gesture at her chest and down to her feet. “I am a _sidhe_ . I’ve never _fallen_ over my own feet in my entire life, aside from the ridiculous shoes your mother's steward tried to force on me. Do you not recall when we first met? I believe I was climbing the castle rooftops.”

“Ahh…” Chastened, he set her gently on her feet, and Rey went to work removing the outer layer of lacey train, which was apparently held to the rest of the dress by little buttons cleverly-disguised under tiny rosebuds. Once the train was free, she thrust it into his arms and got to work tucking in her skirts, until she was satisfied she had full range of motion.

Ben stood still, her veil and tiara and the folded train in his arms, watching as Rey skipped down the broad walkway, admiring the trees and the carved dark-wood lattice arches that stretched above them full of winding white flowers.

“This is beautiful, Ben. Where are we?”

“Naboo, the southeast corner. This was my grandmother’s personal retreat.” He came to where she had stopped, just at the apex of the walkway, where the full estate came into view. Rey looked out over the rolling green hills and sparkling lake and the small, but very beautifully ornate buildings, and sighed in appreciation.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind, tugging her close against him. “Do you like it?”

“It’s gorgeous!” Her eyes danced beautifully when she turned to look up at him. “Is the lake part of it, too? Is that a waterfall?”

“Yes, and yes.” He pressed his lips against her neck, trailing soft, lazy kisses up to her earlobe, which he nibbled gently. “Say thank you,” he murmured in her ear. “And maybe invite me inside, so we can explore your new estate more… thoroughly.”

“This is… You brought me here to _give me_ this place?” Suddenly she spun in his arms, pulling herself up by his neck to press her mouth eagerly to his. She opened beneath him the moment his teeth brushed her lip, and he explored her slowly, tenderly caressing her tongue with his and sucking lightly at her bottom lip. Rey made a noise of approval, tipping her head back further to invite him in for more, and they stood for several minutes just revelling in each other in a languid, unhurried embrace.

Finally, she pulled away, but not far, her arms still looped around his neck as she toyed with the hair at the back of his neck absently.

“It’s beautiful, Ben. I’m afraid I have nothing to give you but myself today, but… You are my husband now, and one day we will go to the lands that are rightfully yours as my consort, in the mountains behind the capital.” She smiled softly. “Have you ever seen snow?”

“No,” he frowned. “New Alderaan and Naboo are islands. Besides them, I’ve only ben to Ren and the Wroshyrwood. And Cloud City, I guess.”

“You will.” She grinned. “I think you’ll like the Consort’s Castle. It’s built into a cliffside. Normally the trek up is a bit strenuous, but somehow, I doubt that will be an issue for my consort.”

“Consort? Am I not your King?”

“Hmmm… Not until I proclaim it, but…” She hesitated, and Ben tilted his head, feeling her thoughts become guarded. It took him a moment, he had been distracted by the idea of getting her into the palace and reclaiming her body and soul, but he could see where her hesitation came from.

“You’re worried about proclaiming another king, after all the things your father has done,” he guessed. Rey looked away, and he clicked his tongue, thumbs caressing her cheeks, drawing her gaze back to him. “Rey, look at me. Prince, Consort, King - they’re just titles. It doesn’t matter what people call me, as long as I get to sit by your side and share in your life. Alright?”

His left hand throbbed, the magical ribbon had disintegrated over their long flight, but the matching scars on their hands were a permanent reminder of the vows they’d just spoken.

“One, whether we are together or apart,” she murmured, and he kissed her again, taking her into his arms again despite her protesting grunt. “Ben, really -”

“I need you, unless you want me to rip that beautiful dress off and have you on the ground again?” Rey shivered, and he could see an answering desire kindled in her eyes at his words.

“No,” she answered weakly. “But I need you, too.”

That was all the permission he needed to lope down the path in a ground-devouring pace, not precisely running, but fast enough to satisfy their need for haste. Once inside, Rey did not hesitate to ask for a servant to escort her to her rooms and get a maid to assist with her dress, and he allowed her to go with only slight hesitation.

In the time it took him to realize he was still in possession of her discarded accoutrements, a familiar slender form appeared from the door to the dining room with a perfectly-executed bow.

“Welcome, Master Solo. If you would like, I shall take the Princess’s items to her rooms, and I escort you to yours,” the aged dryad offered, already reaching for Rey’s things.

“Yes, of course, Threepio.” He would share his displeasure at being assigned the prim old steward with his mother, later. “I assume our luggage made it over with you and Arthur and… Please tell me my mother sent someone to assist Rey…”

“Oh yes. Miss BeeBee is no doubt already busy helping her dress.” He paused before a large set of double doors at the end of an upstairs hallway, holding one open for Ben to proceed him.

He took in the beautiful carved wood furniture of a sitting room, with a large fireplace now banked for the warm summer air, and doors leading to an open terrace outside. Two doors on opposite sides of the room seemed to lead into suites, and he recognized the design from his parents’ quarters in New Alderaan.

“It is a joint suite, sire,” Threepio explained unnecessarily, as the door to the right opened and Ben’s short, gray-haired valet ambled out. “Ah, Arthur, I was just telling His Highness that the other door will lead to  -”

“I’m sure he knows, thank you, Threepio. Don’t you have some kitchen staff to lord over or something?” The shorter man cast Ben a knowing glance, quickly jumping in to rid him of the overbearing steward. “Certainly the Prince and Princess would like nothing better than to undress and rest alone and in peace.”

“Oh! Well, I suppose I do have some things to see to.” Threepio looked at Ben, who stared back without comment. “Excuse me, Your Highness. I'm sure the Princess will send for you -”

“I'm sure she will. Goodnight, Threepio.”

“But, sire, if I could just -”

“His Highness has had a busy enough day, Threepio. I'm sure it can wait,” Arthur insisted, holding the door to his suite open and gesturing for his master to enter.

He shut it quickly, blocking the gangly dryad's approach, and Ben locked the door immediately, sharing Arthur’s silent amusement. His valet was a grizzled boggan, older than even his mother, having previously served the Organa family for centuries, and completely unfazed by almost everything. His head was bald as an egg, his long beard near completely white, and he spoke quietly, briefly, and directly, never afraid to offer his opinion when asked. Otherwise, he kept to himself, didn’t gossip, and had an eidetic memory.

“You’re worth your weight in gold, Arthur,” he told the man as he followed him into his bathing chamber.

“Thank you, sire. I shall remember that when or if I ever feel the itch to retire.” He had already laid out bedclothes, and drew a bath, and Ben took a minute to glance around and ensure all of his belongings were in order. Not that Arthur had ever failed him before. “Would you care for a nightcap, Master Solo?”

“Just one, and then you can have the rest of the night off.”

“Thank you, sir,” he handed Ben a small tumbler of fine amber liquor with a slight bow. “Congratulations on your marriage. She seems like a thoughtful young lady.”

Ben stared at the closed door through which his beloved servant had disappeared for several moments, sipping his whiskey in the hope that it would quell a nervousness he really had no reason to feel.

_Thoughtful…_ Normally, he wouldn’t have even registered the comment, other than to agree wholeheartedly, but Arthur was not the kind of person to give idle compliments. He also wasn’t aware that the servant had interacted much with Rey, other than the few mornings she’d spent in his suite, and the week after her dangerous ascension. Not much time to form any kind of solid opinion of her, she must have done something very specific to give Arthur such a strong impression.

He finished his whiskey and began to undress, leaving the glass on the night-table and removing his rather stifling velvet jacket and armor with a sigh of relief. The light silk pants felt nearly weightless, and he decided to go without the accompanying vest, his wings moved restlessly when he was nervous and Rey seemed rather appreciative of his chest anyway.

A light knock on his door startled him from his thoughts, and he turned from his bathing chamber to answer without opening it.

“Yes?”

“Just me,” came her sweet, low voice. He opened the door immediately, and Rey slipped in under his outsretched arm, in nothing but a sheer white dressing gown and pale blue undergarments. She bumped the door shut with her hip, and leaned back against it.

“I think I’m supposed to come you,” he said, eyes roving eagerly over her body. He had seen all of it, often enough, but somehow the delicate lingerie and silken texture of the robe added a new element. He drew his fingers lightly over the smooth fabric around her neck and down her chest, noting how her breasts heaved shallowly and her eyes followed the path of his hand.

“Rey,” he murmured her name intimately, lowering his lips to her ear. “I’m going to devour you slowly. You’re going to scream for me.”

“Hmmm… that is an interesting promise, my lord,” her hands worked into his hair, and she breathed him in with a little appreciative moan, before kissing him warmly. “I certainly hope you can fulfill it.”

He glanced questioningly at the door, and she blushed. “Threepio insisted it was tradition for the chaplain to be… present. To witness. So… I asked if there was anything stopping me from coming here, and BeeBee said no.”

“You're going to make a fine queen, Rey. Devious, clever and brave .” He took her hand, drawing back into his sitting room, where a couch and several armchairs were arranged around a plush rug. Rey’s eyes closed in pleasure as she sank her feet into the soft carpet, but opened quickly as he tugged her towards him. “My valet was thoughtful enough to draw a bath. Would you care to share it with me?”

“Oh, yes. That would be… lovely.”

She watched coyly as he slipped out of his pants, smiling slightly at his lack of undergarments and the sight of his stiffened member awaiting her. He eased himself slowly into the heated water, sighing as muscles he didn't realise were sore relaxed in the warmth.

“Come here, wife,” he beckoned.

Rey stepped up to the edge of the sunken granite pool, far different from the copper tubs they had in New Alderaan, and surveyed the wide basin appreciatively. Finding and holding his eye, she let her robe fall, and he couldn't help but lower his gaze, taking in the fitted blue brassiere that outlined her breasts and the scrap of lace covering just between her thighs, held up high on her hips with delicate ribbons.

Her hands worked behind her back, and then she gave a little exaggerated huff and turned away from him, showing off her firm, round bottom, peeking out of the pale blue fabric that might as well be nonexistent.

“I can't manage the ties,” Rey murmured. “Do you mind?”

Ben licked his lips and took a deep breath before he moved across to pull out the simple ties on her top. He tried to be as gentle as possible, though his hands shook slightly as he unfastened the fragile ribbons. Slowly, he pushed the straps down her arms, and reached around her to draw the entire thing away from her body, cupping her breasts in his hands once she was bare.

“I feel as though I'm unwrapping a gift,” he whispered against her neck as he kissed her there, proceeding to draw the tip of his tongue all the way down her spine and tug at her panties with his teeth.

Rey moaned beautifully, tipping her head back in pleasure, and he rolled his thumbs over her nipples lazily, until they hardened under his attentions.

“You're not done unwrapping me yet,” she reminded in a husky tone that made his length twitch greedily.

“I've never heard you be so impatient.”

He dropped his hands to her waist, spinning her back around, and let her watch as he pulled apart the ties holding her panties with his teeth, continuing to nibble at the curve of her hip before trailing kisses across her lower stomach to the other side. To his eyes, the white sapphire below her navel glowed dimly, reflecting the muted warm light from candles in sconces hung around them, and he traced its newly-healed edges gently, earning a particularly rough cry from his lover.

“I told you. I’m just as needful as you,” she managed between gasps, “I'm just better at concealing my emotions.”

“Hmmm.” He finished removing the last of her coverings, and Rey stepped forward slightly so he could pull it away. “We'll see about that.”

He pulled her into the tub with him, drawing her close to his chest as he relaxed backwards with his wings spread and raised lazily around them. She pushed herself up onto his chest, looking down to survey her new kingdom, and Ben hissed in surprise as her hand boldly found and stroked his length under the water.

“Careful, Rey -”

“No. I'm done being careful, and you've married me twice over now, so I don't care if it's unbecoming or improper.” She met his eyes without fear, leaning in closer with her hand still gliding slowly over him. “Ben, I… I want you to…”

Her face flushed, but she didn't look away as he cupped her face and prompted her to answer.

“You want me to what, Rey? Say it, it's okay.”

“I want you to _fuck_ me.” He smirked at her wide, earnest expression, leaning back ever-so-slightly to glance meaningfully between them.

“You're doing a pretty good job of fucking me right now,” he said, raising his eyes back to her. “Why don't you keep at it?”

“I… I don't know…”

“Try,” he murmured gently. “Surely you can figure out how we fit together. It works much the same, I imagine.”

She closed her eyes, taking a firm grip on his shoulder and his cock, and leveraged herself over him, fumbling a lot less than he'd expected. The sudden pleasure of her soft core sliding over him was overwhelming, and Ben groaned, jerking forward to wrap her in his arms.

“Oh, Ben!” Rey's eyes were shut tight, and her fingers dug into his shoulders, her whole body tensed and trembling.

“Are you alright? Rey?” He froze, running soothing hands up and down her back, and she relaxed slightly as she eased herself down. “Don't hurt yourself, sweetheart.”

“It's fine. I'm fine, it just…” She breathed slowly in and out, opening her eyes to peer down at him. “I forgot how… how _much_ it is. Maybe it's different this way, I'm not sure…”

He could feel her tense again, trying to press her body down, and he tightened his arms around her.

“Easy, Rey. Give it a minute, let me… Let me touch you…” he kissed and nibbled and lapped at her neck, moving his mouth down until he took one of her nipples gently between his teeth. One hand moved down to trace above where her body was slowly sinking onto him, teasing her flesh until he found the firm swell of nerves there and rubbed with delicate strokes.

“Oh, _oh!_ ” She tangled a hand in his hair and rolled her hips, and suddenly they were joined perfectly, her legs firmly planted on either side of him with his manhood buried as far inside her as it could go. “Oh, Bennnnn!”

He groaned with her breast still in his mouth, sliding his free hand down over her hip for leverage, and bucked against her cautiously. Hopefully it felt as good for her as it did for him, because he wasn't going to last at all, he had spent to long yearning for this and being joined to her again was like coming home after a long, harrowing trip. She was soft and so tight, and he could feel the edge of her pleasure through their bond, amplified by the marriage binding, the strange bliss of being  _filled_ and an overwhelming impetus to move.

He released her nipple with a soft pop, returning to his favorite activity of kissing and nibbling her neck as she rode him with increasing confidence, spurred on by his open, welcoming presence in their bond and the feelings of _rightness_ they both shared.

“You feel so good, Rey, saints, I've missed you -”

“I know, I know,” both of her hands slid down his chest as she sat up fully, her breasts bouncing as she rocked over him. “I've missed you, too - I love you so much -”

She cut off with a cry as he stroked her hidden nub with firmer pressure, and they both moaned as Rey leaned back, resting her hands on his upper thighs, giving him more room to coax her to completion. He was a hair's breadth from toppling over, but he could sense she needed the speed and motion to draw out her own crest.

“I'm - I can't,” he shook damp hair from his face, seeking her eyes and finding them squeezed closed in an expression of near-bliss. “Please tell me what to do… how can I make you...”

“Oh, gods, Ben, just…” she drew a shaky breath and reached to better direct his hand, pressing his fingers more widely against her and holding them there while she moved. He copied her rhythm, and soon she was sparking with pleasure through the bond and crying out with each thrust of her hips. “Like that... please..."

Rey shuddered, her whole body tensing as he felt her begin to blossom, and he worked his hand harder. "Yes! Oh, fuck, don't… don't stop… _oh fuck Ben, Ben_!”

He watched her orgasm flow over her perfect features, her eyelids fluttering and her rosy mouth opened slightly as her muscles slackened, and then he felt her quivering and pulsing around him and his vision went white with his own moment of bliss.

_Ben? Was it… good for you?_

_So good. So good, Rey._

“I cursed,” she laughed breathlessly against his chest. “Rather a lot, actually.”

“Did you?” He couldn't honestly remember, his mind was barely functional enough to lift her off of him so they could clean up.

“Yes. I didn't scream, though.”

He gazed down, seeing a spark of challenge in her bright, glassy eyes, and felt his lips twitch in the little half-smirk everyone claimed he'd inherited from his father.

“We've got the whole night, sweetheart. Give me time.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saints alive, he was screwed. So, utterly, irrevocably… and hopefully…
> 
> “You think very loudly, for a seraph,” she complained. “I admit, I’m flattered, but please try and be quiet. I have to concentrate if you want to survive long enough for anything else.”
> 
> He opened his mouth only to swallow water, and then he was too busy coughing and trying to breathe to consider thinking of anything else. There was a splash nearby, and he recognized the slim shoulders under the water, coming up to bolster his other side.
> 
> “Ja -”
> 
> “Just shut up and breathe,” his sister instructed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imma just slip this Magic: the Gathering ship in here, because Jace needs some love ;)
> 
> Don't worry, we'll get back to our regularly-scheduled Reylo in the next few chapters.

Jacen!” The scrape of claws on the courtyard was a giveaway to who was shouting for him, but the seraph was still surprised to see Jykatha racing into the practice yard at full speed, her green-gold eyes wide. “Jace, I need your help, please!”

“Yeah, sure.” He frowned at the dark emerald-skinned faerie across from him, shrugging and letting his enchanted blade dissipate. “Good job, Lucien. You're getting better at using your wings. Just keep practicing that overhead swoop and we'll  -”

“Now, Jace, come on!” The lamia tugged his arm insistently, and when he turned to gesture for her to precede him, she shook her head. “No, in the air, we don't  have time.”

He raised an eyebrow, eyeing her as she clutched at his steadying arms and bit down on her lip like she was bracing herself for a blow. Once they were airborne with a bit of magic, Jykatha whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Care to tell me where I'm going, Jyka?” He asked softly. The lamia was terrified of heights, and he could count on one hand the number of times she'd been seen allowing Onera to bear her aloft. As far as he knew, she'd never let anyone else try, even the Prince. “Or what's so important you're willing to risk life and limb in the sky?”

“Harbor,” she managed to gasp, “your sister's caught onto our scheme.”

He banked sharply, beating against the currents of the wind, and Jykatha shrieked directly in his ear, her talons piercing the outer layer of his light leather armor.

“Saints, Jyka, don't fucking maul me. The harbor's on the north side of the island. All the winds drive into it.” He knew it was pointless to reason with her, but he had to maneuver and if she kept panicking he was going to injure them them both. “I've got, you, okay? Just close your eyes and don't look at anything.”

He shifted her in his arms, getting a firmer grip under her knees, surprised that the sturdy, athletic knight weighed so little. Jacen Syndulla was not exactly a patient person, but he was kinder than he let on, and despite his sharp words, he loved his friends deeply. So he was legitimately concerned by Jykatha's frantic actions, and did his best to calm her while also pressing her for more information. 

“Why the harbor, what's going on?” He asked in a gentler tone.

“Your mother asked Lady Sabine to recall one of her better operatives to command  _ The Ghost _ , ostensibly for some simple training exercises between here and Ahch-To, but really she's going to be coming with us when we sail to Coruscant,” the lamia explained quickly. “Her name is Vraska, she's a distant cousin of my mother's, and she has an excellent reputation as an operative and a sailor.”

“An operative and a sailor?” He mused, smirking at the terminology. “So she's a pirate. I assume part of that reputation comes from Lando and the King?”

“I knew you'd get it,” Jykatha sighed. “But the trouble is, Jaina followed us this morning as we were inspecting your mother's ship, changed her skin and climbed aboard while we were out in the harbor… and she's got Vraska in a pinch. Lamia can't handle cold water, and Jaina's already thrown enough at her that I don't see how she's still hanging on. I’m not sure I could even manage -”

“Where the hell is my mother? Or yours? Or anyone else -”

“We don't want a scene, remember? As far as they know it's just a dispute over training exercises, but your sister's not stupid.” Her thin lips pulled back in a grimace. “She knows there's more to it, and she's holding Vraska hostage. I had to get help quickly, and I knew you'd be in the yard -”

“Ah, I see them.” He shared her grimace, noting  _ The Ghost _ with its sails drawn halfway out from the dock, and two small forms up on the steering deck, one of whom was being very literally walked down the plank. “Hang on tight, now.”

He winced as her claws scraped his skin, but maintained enough focus to stick a reasonably steady landing, while shouting at his sister in the sternest tone he could manage.

“Jaina! What the hell do you think you're doing?” He let Jykatha down, the lamia grunting in relief as her feet touched solid wood. His sister turned from her stance at the edge of the upper deck, her selkie-brown eyes narrowed in anger. “You can't threaten people like that, for heaven's sake! I know you were raised better -”

“She's stealing our ship!” His sister countered, gesturing at the hunched, miserable-looking faerie on the other end of the plank. “Her and Jykatha! I knew they were planning something, Lady Mara told me I'd better watch out -”

Rage as hot as an ifreet's heart scorched through him, and he felt his wings mantle over his shoulders as he cut her off with in a cold, uncharacteristically soft voice. There was a hiss of a blade being drawn behind him, and he sensed Jykatha's presence, focused and watchful.

“Mara?” He asked, taking another step towards his sister. “What did Mara tell you, Jaina? Her exact words, if you remember.”

“She just said that there were traitors everywhere. That some people,” she glowered at Jykatha for some reason, “wouldn't want Lady Rey to become queen. That they might try and kidnap her and take her back to her father for a ransom.”

“Did she now?” He asked calmly. “That's an interesting theory. Let's talk about it, shall we?”

He took another step, reaching the bottom of the short flight of stairs leading up to the navigation deck, then gave a little hop and beat his wings, gaining the vantage of height so he could finally view the woman crouched along the plank.

She had four horns, two that bent and curled back over her skull like a ram’s, and two more, slender and sharp-looking, curving up from her wildly-tangled raven hair. Her skin was a dusky emerald, what he could see of it beneath the collar and rolled sleeves of her leather coat, and she had slender fingers that ended in delicate, pointed black claws. Eyes squeezed shut, she didn’t notice his appraising gaze, but he still felt uncomfortable for staring so long when the situation was potentially disastrous.

“Jykatha!” He called behind him. “Tell me again how you know this woman?” He caught Jaina’s eye, holding it as their friend came to stand at the base of the stairs and shout up her answer.

“Vraska is my mother’s cousin. She’s been working for Lady Sabine in Dathomir, although I am not sure either of us at liberty to define the nature of her work,” she called in a clear, firm voice. “I assure you my mother will vouch for her. As will Lady Sabine.”

“Well I don’t see either of them here,” Jaina snapped. “And Jykatha was helping her steal the ship, I don’t think I trust her anymore!”

“They aren’t here because Jyka found me first,” he explained, “and in case it escaped your notice, the ship is midway out into the bay.”

“Nyx can fly,” she glowered stubbornly. “Go get Lady Sabine. We’ll wait.”

“They can’t fly over the ocean,” he corrected quickly. “Those wings are too fragile to handle the higher currents, and the salt spray would tear them apart. Jaina, you  _ know _ that. What are playing at?”

“Something’s going on,” she crossed her arms over her chest, and Jacen tried not to wince, recognizing that she was determined to see this through. “I want to know what it is.”

“Fine.” He spared a glance for the woman behind her. “Let her back on board and we’ll tell you, I promise.”

Jacen could see he had her there, his nosy little sister was too eager to be a part of the secret, and he had a long reputation as a bad liar.

A reputation he had worked to cultivate, so that when he did have to lie, no one would suspect or question his words. Their mother was an oxymoronic honest pirate, but Sabine and Ezra had raised him as much as Hera, and they knew the value of being able to sell a lie. Especially for a seraph. Luke had discouraged such discussions of intrigue, refusing to contemplate the usefulness of listening and silencing spells, believing all such subterfuge was a gateway to a darker path. Ahsoka, on the other hand, had more of Sabine’s approach. It had been an unfortunate necessity during the war, when the Dark Lord Vader had made it a personal quest to hunt down and destroy every living sorcerer, especially the fae of his own kin.

Jaina’s eyes fixed widely on him, and he knew he had gained her trust when she started to step towards him, but then several things happened at once, and his instinct guided him to act without stopping to consult his conscious mind.

His sister’s slight weight had been all that was keeping the plank of warped wood steady. The moment she moved away from it, the lamia at the other end gave a frightened yell, and Jacen leapt into the air, the focus stone in his chest pulsing with the power to throw himself aloft while also holding the plank in place. Jaina dodged to the side as he surged past her, and then the lamia was safe in his arms, plucked from the failing precipice just as it began to topple into the sea.

With the added weight, it took a great deal of strength to bear them both into the air, and he had jumped into action before considering the dangerous winds sweeping into the bay. A quick glance at the sky and he swore, seeing the thunderheads gathering above for the first time.

“Can you float?” He half-yelled at the woman, who gripped his arms with a death grip.

“Can I what?”

“Can you -” he reached out with his mind, grabbing the nearest lifeboat and cutting the ropes so it fell quickly, guided by his magic. “Can you get to the boat?”

“Oh! Yes!” He struggled against the waves and the beginning of a furious rainstorm to get as close as possible, but at the last moment, she hesitated. “Wait, what about you?”

“The boat can’t hold us both -” He didn’t have time to argue, he just shoved her at the lifeboat with all the power he had left, before he crashed into the waves. The screams of his sister and his friend halted abruptly as his sodden wings dragged him down, and in what he assumed were his dying thoughts, he cursed Ben Solo and his brilliant, dumb luck.

He never would have thought twice about risking his life to save some random person, if the other seraph hadn’t given such a startling, detailed explanation of how he knew Rey was his mate. 

_ As if I’ve just been waiting for her my whole life. _

Well, at least he got to hold her for a few seconds. Jaina would never forgive him for dying because she was being a stubborn fool, and Jykatha would find some way to blame herself, if he knew her at all. Typical of him to die in such a stupid, pointless way while somehow managing to still martyr himself like a proper seraphim.

He felt himself moving, and assumed he was sinking faster now that his feathers were well and truly drenched, so the shock of cold air on his face left him gasping and flailing. A clawed hand tangled in his hair with an agonizing grip, and he practically wrenched his neck trying to shake it off.

“Stop fighting me, you imbecile!” He did not recognize the voice, he was sure of it, but there was something soothing in it, and his efforts to free himself stilled. “Ah, you do have some sense. Good.”

He was still in the water, but at least his head was above it, and he fumbled with his hand, fingernails scrabbling at the wood of the lifeboat, where the dark golden eyes of a lamia peered over the side at him. “Here, take hold of the oar. I’ll pull us in with my own power.”

“Vraska?” He grimaced, but latched onto the length of wood she shoved into his hands, still trying to see through the lapping of waves and the increasing downpour.

“Yes?”

“Just checking.”

Saints alive, he was screwed. So, utterly, irrevocably… and  _ hopefully _ … 

“You think very loudly, for a seraph,” she complained. “I admit, I’m flattered, but please try and be quiet. I have to concentrate if you want to survive long enough for anything else.”

He opened his mouth only to swallow water, and then he was too busy coughing and trying to breathe to consider thinking of anything else. There was a splash nearby, and he recognized the slim shoulders under the water, coming up to bolster his other side.

“Ja -”

“Just shut up and breathe,” his sister instructed. She looked up at the lamia in the boat, and her large eyes were full of shame and apology. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Hush. What’s done is done.” They were moving fairly quickly, Jacen thought. Ahsoka’s cousin was not just a sorcerer, she was an extremely powerful one to haul them all back to the dock, especially with his massive weight of wet feathers dragging behind them.

His mother and the King himself met them as they got closer, Han and Hera together working their selkie magic and hauling Jacen out of the waves, while a very docile Jaina assisted Vraska. Something heavy and warm was draped over his shoulders, and he recognized the scent of oils and water-logged fur.

“Mom, don’t overreact, I’ll be fine.” His speech was stuttered as his teeth chattered, and Hera gave him a chastising look. Sighing in defeat, he clutched the warmth of her otterskin cloak around his shoulders, and let her escort him to the nearest doorway, the Nightfall barracks where Jykatha was building up the hearth. Master Ahsoka was tending to Vraska on one of the vacant beds, checking her bare hands and feet for any sign of frostscale or cold damage.

She glanced his way curiously, but the seraph stared resolutely into the fire, remembering how she’d complained before about his loud thoughts. He laid on his stomach with his spread wings dripping over the floor, more miserable than he’d ever been in his life, and closed his eyes gratefully when they were finally left alone.

“It’s Jacen, is it not?”

He grunted without opening his eyes. A low chuckle played over his ears in the quiet space, and he concentrated on the shielding techniques he’d learned so long ago from Luke. Jacen had been a master sorcerer for over a decade,  _ no one _ , should be able to pick up his thoughts, but if they were leaking through somehow, then clearly he needed more practice.

“Yes, well… Lord Syndulla, then,” she tried a more formal tone. “I appreciate the rescue. And I apologize for… Well. You nearly died, and we do not really know each other, so you’ll have to excuse my surprise. I am not accustomed to people risking themselves on my behalf.”

“Why wouldn’t they? You’re intelligent and clever and obviously an accomplished sorceress,” his traitorous tongue assured her immediately, and he shut his eyes again. “I’m just a snarky asshole, ask anyone. Nothing of value would have been lost, believe me.”

“No. You will excuse me, but I’m afraid I disagree,” she spoke so softly, he didn’t realize she had come over beside him until he felt the warm, dry touch of her hand over his. “Besides, I happen to have a soft spot for snarky assholes.”

“Oh, great. You’re going to fit in well here.”

He looked up to see her frowning down at him, a puzzled look in her dark golden eyes. Such an unusual color, he’d never seen a lamia with such striking coloring, but she didn’t seem to be much aware of her own beauty. Vraska lifted a hand tentatively, brushing the curve of his wing with the back of her knuckles, and he swallowed hard, unable to break her gaze.

“They’re soft,” she murmured, before shaking herself abruptly and stepping back from him. “I apologize, I have no right to such liberties -”

“On the contrary,” he corrected as he folded his arms under his chin, watching her carefully, but avoiding that striking gaze. “You saved my life. By all means, touch me wherever you’d like.”

“Hmm.” She leaned back against the wall beside the hearth. “You’re very unusual for a seraph.”

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you mean. I just risked my life to save a woman I hardly know in the most dramatic display possible, in full view of the King and Queen and Master Ahsoka Tano. Sounds like the epitome of seraph martyrdom to me.”

Vraska smiled faintly. “Will you be travelling with us, Lord Syndulla? On your mother’s fine vessel?”

“Gods, I hope so.”

He was lost, absolutely, completely.

  
  
  
  


“I really am sorry, Ben,” Jacen sighed through the dingy waters of the villa scrying pool. “But I swear, there’s no need for you to cut your trip short -”

Ben Solo regarded his friend’s haggard appearance thoughtfully, glancing to his new wife in the hope that she would have a more reasoned response. As a seraph, of course, Jacen was his friend and subject, a knight in his court, and therefore one of his  _ people _ . His instinct was to head for home immediately, but he knew logically there was nothing he could do, there was no threat to fight or ward off.

“I’m concerned about what Mara Jade said to Jaina,” she said thoughtfully. “I didn’t have the chance to tell you, but she came to visit me the morning of the wedding.”

“Did say something inappropriate, or threaten you in any way?” Ben worried, but while Rey shook her head, her expression still registered concern.

“Not quite, but…”

“She’s not trustworthy,” Jacen supplied. “I don’t know what game she’s playing, but I think it’s best we act quickly, before she pokes her nose in enough people’s business and catches on to us.”

“Do you really think she’d sell Rey out to Snoke?” Ben asked plainly.

“I doubt it,” Jacen replied haltingly, “but it wouldn’t surprise me, either. You know she’s vicious, Ben.”

“I know.” He sighed heavily. “I think it’s best -”

“I have an idea,” Rey interrupted, her eyes suddenly intent on him. “Is there any particular reason we need to go back to New Alderaan at all?”

“No,” Jacen and Ben both said at once, following her idea. Ben nodded to Jacen. “I trust you to make the arrangements. Keep Ahsoka and Chewie in the loop, but no one else.”

“I’ll send a message when we leave.”


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke Skywalker was a storm of rage, his robes swirling with power aas he stalked through the castle, wings arched over his shoulders and brushing ungently against the walls and hangings. Something collided on his right, and he felt the weight fall through his feathers with a resounding shatter of broken glass, but he ignored it.
> 
> Servants coming the opposite direction took one look at the angry seraph and fled down the nearest side hall or closed themselves in empty rooms, and the few nobles he passed froze, staring the way a rabbit might stare down a swooping hawk, terrified but unable to look away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High magic and more of that frustrating intrigue, now with more Luke Skywalker! Hopefully this will all start to make sense in the next few chapters, although I'm feeling a distinct lack of smut that might need to be rectified soon ;)

After her second morning spent shipboard, watching the rise of the pink and indigo sunlight pouring upwards through the sky, Rose Tice had decided she liked the ocean. Movement behind her didn't startle her, but she did jump a little at the brush of Finn's chilled fingers over her forearm as he wrapped her in a gentle embrace.

“You're really ready to do this now?” He questioned again.

“The Prince and Princess don't need to be involved, and the ocean has a sort of steady magic of its own,” she said with a shrug. Finn’s nimble fingers toyed with the pendant around his neck, before he tucked it back under his shirt and kissed at the base of her delicate, furry ear.

“Okay, I’ll tell Poe to get ready.”

They had decided that the best way to protect the identity of everyone involved, in the very likely case that one of them was caught and interrogated, it was best if each of their operatives received their disguise in secret. It was still risky, even Rose’s magic wasn’t enough to cloak the wings of a seraphim in the air or an ifreet with a body of living flame, but short of those drastic giveaways, the knights would look like nondescript dannan even to each other unless they chose to give themselves away.

Kaydel was the first to approach, a small vial of glowing purple liquid in one hand, and a delicate golden bracelet in the shape of exotice leaves in the other.

“Luminiere blossom,” she said as she handed the vial over. “I’ve had this for ages. It’s incredibly rare, from the highest peaks of the Jeddha ruins. A few drops can regrow a limb, a wing, a tail… I’ve never had reason to use it, fortunately, but it is still quite a precious thing.”

Rose nodded, feeling the metaphysical weight of the small container of powerful essence in her palm. “It will work, though I’m sorry to see it go. We might need something like this.”

“I recall something about epic quests in the long-term future,” the nymph said with a nervous smile. “It is not  _ impossible _ to replace.”

“Alright.” 

She closed her eyes, the vial in one hand and Kaydel’s golden bracelet in the other. The soldier had russet hair the color of fall leaves, and very distinctive eyes, so she concentrated on concealing those features, and crafted an image of a dark blonde woman with unremarkable brown eyes in her mind. It was a bit different than the magic she worked on Finn or Rey, crafting a whole person from scratch, but it was not as difficult as she had expected.

The rest went on in the same way. Poe Dameron was next, with a black earring and a small censor of lightly smoldering heart’s fire. Rose gave him messy brown hair, a substantially larger build, and a homely face. Onera brought a painted violet-indigo primary feather from her seraph father, a precious gift from a seraph to a loved one, imbued with some of the faerie’s strong protective magics.

“Are you sure you want to give this up?” Rose worried over the large, beautifully-colored gift. “The magic is still there. A gift like this must have been given with all of your father’s care and love.”

“Yes, it was,” the nyxie stood tall in the afternoon sun. “But I’m all grown up now. I don’t need to hide behind my father’s power.”

She gave Onera dark skin like Finn’s, knowing the nyxie was accustomed to moving in the shadows, and made her wings like a jewel-toned cloak fluttering about her shoulders.

Teferi and Ezra both made vows of future loyalty to the Divine, using their own living feathers with runic script painted on in magical ink, and in a flash of inspiration, she gave them the guise of giant eagles, the kind that dwelled in the caves beneath the floating Cloud City.

Jykatha brought a pair of mirrored goggles and was the only one who spilled her own blood with a quick slash on her palm, the blood of the lamia being valuable as the only cure for their own powers of petrification. Rose collected it carefully in a small basin until she felt there was enough to work her magic, and then she lowered her horn and healed the wound. At the lamia’s request, she left her overall appearance relatively intact, but made her face plain, her eyes dark and beady, and altered the curved horns over her hair to smoother, softer prongs of white.

“The swamp witches are mostly lamia,” she explained. “Hopefully they won’t attack outright if I look the part.”

Captain Vraska gave her a magical compass that pointed to the swiftest escape route, another artifact Rose was sad to see sacrificed, and she traded the lamia’s double horns and emerald skin for the guise of a more common selkie.

Finally, Jacen Syndulla made his way to her, the last of their small group of operatives besides herself, Finn and the newly-wed couple they were traveling to meet.

She raised an eyebrow as he didn’t automatically hold out an artifact, and the seraph coughed uncomfortably, glancing around as if he were afraid they would be overhead, before he mumbled something under his breath.

“Sorry, you’re wha -”

“I’m a virgin,” he hissed at a slightly louder volume. “I’m sure that comes as a shock, but it’s a valid sacrifice, isn’t it?”

“Yes it is.” She paused, reaching out with her magic instinctually to feel for the right sort of vow, and took his hand. “You’ll know, when it’s time.” 

“Great.”

She closed her eyes, sensing something odd, and for some reason her gaze traveled up the length of the deck to steerage, where the lamia captain was casually guiding the ship with one hand. 

“You’ve found your mate. Jacen -”

The seraph sighed heavily, his normal half-smirk wiped away by an expression of fatalistic acceptance and mild admiration.

“It’s none of your business, you know.”

“Hmm.” Rose couldn’t quite hide her smile, evoking another heavy sigh. 

“Just get on with the disguise.”

On a hunch, she made him a selkie as well, tying the magic to the small, beaded indigo feather Jacen provided - a seraphim’s mating token that he wore braided close to his neck, hidden beneath the thick tangle blue-green hair he'd been blessed with.

“Your father’s?” She asked hesitantly. He nodded, glancing to Vraska, and Rose hid another soft smile. “Well, don’t give it away too soon.”   
  


 

 

Luke Skywalker was a storm of rage, his robes swirling with power aas he stalked through the castle, wings arched over his shoulders and brushing ungently against the walls and hangings. Something collided on his right, and he felt the weight fall through his feathers with a resounding shatter of broken glass, but he ignored it.

Servants coming the opposite direction took one look at the angry seraph and fled down the nearest side hall or closed themselves in empty rooms, and the few nobles he passed froze, staring the way a rabbit might stare down a swooping hawk, terrified but unable to look away.

Eventually, he reached his destination, finding his sister and his ex-fiancee in Leia’s favorite parlor, hung with green and gold vines sprouting beautiful blossoms in a rainbow of colors. The whole room was a single plant, grown out to cover every well-placed trellis and rocky outcrop, a gift from a nymph, coaxed to expand at an accelerated rate with nature magic. Another time, he might have paused to admire it, as he often did when visiting his sister, but at the moment, it took all of his will not to grasp the twining vines with his power and use them to strangle the red-haired sidhe sipping tea so innocently across from the Queen.

“Mara,” he snapped, surprised at the hoarseness of his own voice.

Both women turned to him, Leia frowning and rising to her feet, obviously sensing the state he was in. Mara Jade’s blue eyes widened, though she kept her seat, carefully setting down her teacup to face him. Luke’s hands clenched at his sides, and he looked away, knowing better than to meet to the eyes of sidhe, especially this one.

“Luke,” his sister called his name warningly. “What have you -”

“Stay out of this, Leia,” he growled, advancing on Mara Jade. “Did you tell Jaina Syndulla that there was a conspiracy against Rey? Did you imply or suggest - in  _ any _ way -” he knew Mara, he knew how she could slip ideas into people’s heads “- that Jykatha Tano and Prince Obi-wan had some kind of affair going on?”

“I simply pointed out -”

“No,” he sneered, towering over her, and to his surprise, she actually looked frightened. He thought it was a trick, but he couldn’t be sure. “None of that ‘I simply pointed out’ or ‘I may have mentioned.’ No one here is fool enough to believe that you speak a single word without careful consideration of the intended effect.”

“If you are attempting to place blame for what occured in the harbor, I assure you, it was not my intention to cause anyone harm!” She stood, finally, and Luke considered it a minor victory, knowing he had caused her enough concern that she felt the need to rise up to defend herself. “But you must know how dangerous it is! Snoke has spies, Kreia has spies, there is so much going on under the surface, I thought it best to take precautions -”

“And you used a fourteen-year-old child? To spread rumors?” Leia spoke from behind Luke, her voice deadly cold, the perfect opposite of her twin’s storm of rage. He stood back, and Leia crossed her arms, giving Mara Jade a narrow, appraising look. “I haven’t heard you deny it, Mara.”

“I never imagined she would take it so literally. Children can be such trouble, can’t they?”

Luke turned at the sound of the Queen’s sharp intake of breath, to see her eyes close momentarily as the well-oiled political machine in her head organized itself. When she opened them, her gaze was cold and focused.

“Both of you, leave me at once,” Leia commanded, the sidhe  _ geas _ sinking into them both.

“Leia,” Luke tried to interject, but she shook her head.

“We shall speak, I promise. And soon. But for the moment, there are others I need to attend to first, in light of this.” She glanced at Mara. “And you are not to attack or threaten Lady Mara in any way, Luke. Not unless she takes direct action towards treason.”   
  


 

 

He had  grit his teeth and wheeled, storming from the room and past the red-haired sidhe, back into the long hall and down to the training yard, where he collected a practice blade and worked through forms and sparred against Sabine Wren until they were both exhausted and barely able to remain aloft.

“Should I ask what brings you, my lord?” 

The nyxie alighted on the rampart beside him to watch the sun set, drawing her sweat-dampened purple hair into a messy knot high on her head. In the direct light, her skin was something even darker than black, a color-devouring velvet that sparkled here and there like the night sky. When he was younger, training with Obi-wan and Ezra, Luke had harbored a secret crush on the Nightfall Captain, before he had ever encountered Mara Jade Calrissian.

Sabine had teased him gently, but she had never been cruel, and when he’d overstepped, she had firmly put him in his place without judgment, gaining his friendship instead. They watched her daughter, Luke’s most recent student, sparring with two of Leia’s palace guard, observing in companionable silence until Kana defeated them both soundly.

“She’s coming along well,” Sabine broke into the quiet again.

“She could have tested for ascendancy a year ago,” Luke agreed, watching Kana replace the weaponry and sweep the courtyard with a rush of magic. “She’s holding back.”

“Hmm. She’s afraid,” Sabine sighed. “Our fault, perhaps. It seemed so fitting, when she was born, Ezra was keen to pay homage to his beloved master. Now, I think, she suspects she won’t live up to the memory of Lord Kanan. You seraphim take everything so seriously.”

“Maybe you should talk to her,” he suggested gently. “Tell her some stories about her namesake Hera and Ezra won’t. I’m sure Lord Kanan was not a perfect being, despite his martyrdom.”

“I could do that.” She smiled faintly. “He’s not a saint yet.”

“Mara Jade told little Jaina that Jykatha was jealous of Rey. I believe that’s why she nearly murdered your operative, after she spied them taking _The_ _Ghost_ around the harbor.”

“Shite.” The nyxie spat, and Luka raised an eyebrow in amusement, both at the curse and the boldly unladylike behavior.

Sabine took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Her emerald eyes flicked over the training yard before landing on Luke again. “I’ll talk to Kana and Jaina. I’m sure they are feeling lonely now, with the others sneaking off. Though at least now we have confirmation.”

“Confirmation?”

“Ah. I think it’s best if we don’t share too many secrets, Skywalker,” she warned him off. “Sometimes it’s more effective to approach a problem from multiple perspectives.”

Luke sighed. He had expected her to remain aloof, but at least he knew now that his nephew and his little circle of friends hadn’t acted entirely without supervision.

“Do all your secrets have secrets?”

“Spymaster.”


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux grunted, and Fazma turned to see Snoke gripping him by the throat, hauling the pale-faced general to his feet. “You spineless imbecile!”
> 
> “Your Majesty, they cannot press their claim without taking the castle!” He spluttered, his greasy copper hair thrown wildly into his eyes. There was something attractive in him, Phasma thought, if only his personality didn’t spoil it. “They must come here! And when they do, we’ll have -”
> 
> “We will lay a trap,” Fazma said coolly. “And they will have no choice but to spring it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter but I wanted to get at least a bit of an update out. This story is getting complicated and I just haven't had the focus to write productively for a few weeks, but I think I'm back into it now.

They had been wise enough to leave under cover of a magically-encouraged fog, and  _ The Ghost _ had already breached the peninsula of the harbor mouth when it was noticed by the sentries. Then, of course, correspondence was attempted, but Jacen Syndulla easily held back the winged messengers with a magical shield, and Vraska was an adept enough sailor to speed the ship out of reach.

Ahsoka had waited another day to cast a scrying spell, avoiding the curious, thoughtful gazes of the Queen and courtiers by keeping mostly to her workroom. In a castle full of sorcerers and all the multitudes of fae, she knew the best way to keep a secret was to simply not know all of the details. It was a tactic she had learned long ago, in the cruelest way possible, and she had spent her life trying to prevent another puppet-master like Palpatine from gaining too great a sphere of influence. If she had to cede some of her own power to stop another from acquiring knowledge they shouldn’t have, Ahsoka considered it a fair trade.

“Master Tano,” the ifreet’s face through the water was blurred slightly, but she recognized the warm, softly rolling accent.

“Hello, Cassian. How fare’s the voyage?”

“Well, I think. I hate the ocean as much as I ever have, but I am lucky to sail with a selkie who knows my heart.” Ahsoka could see steam rising from his side of the connection, and her mouth twitched in amusement. 

Jyn and Cassian were old friends, soldiers who fought at her side during the long years of the Dark Lords’ reign, and she trusted them in the same way she trusted Sabine and Ezra. More than understanding the stakes, they understood the cost of war, and were willing to do whatever must be done to stop it from happening again. The surface of the scrying mirror blurred again, and the sorceress frowned.

“I hope our plans aren’t for naught,” she said softly. 

Cassian scowled. It had been some time since they had used the coded phrase, but she did not like the way the connection felt. It wasn’t on her end, her workroom was perhaps the most secure location in the entirety of the Three Kingdoms, but Jyn Erso’s scrying mirror was an artifact created centuries ago. Neither the selkie knight nor her ifreet husband were sorcerers, and it was unlikely they would notice the signs of interference.

“Hope is like the sun,” he responded carefully. “If you only believe in it when you can see it -”

“You’ll never make it through the night,” they recited together.

Ahsoka nodded, then scowled. If Jyn’s mirror was compromised, it was going to make this entire operation more difficult for all of them, but they couldn’t risk it. She wasn’t sure which irritated her more, the fact that they would have to devise an entirely new method of communication between their forces, or her own lack of foresight.

“The Fomori are not supposed to be able to master sorcery,” she said slowly, watching to see if he understood the implied message. “This is the safest way for us to communicate.”

“I see.” Cassian’s expression was closed, and Ahsoka tapped her lip with a delicately-clawed finger. “I’ll check in with Jyn and contact you tonight.”

“Stay safe, my friend.”

“You, as well.” A faint hint of a scowl darkened his eyes. “Give our regards to the Queen. We'll meet you soon.”

“Of course.”

  
  


If Fazma hated it when she was summoned out of nowhere by her mother, she hated it even more when it was her father. She had not even the time to change her clothes, her riding boots rang out on the stone as she approached the throne room, flanked by two of her formless brethren.

She noted Armitage’s presence already kneeling as she swept the best curtsy she could manage with her current attire, and King Snoke regarded her grimly.

“Your sister has married the Faerie Prince,” he hissed without preamble. “The old magic has accepted them. Do you have any idea what that means for us, child?”

“No, sir,” Fazma kept her eyes down, but she risked a glance to General Hux. He looked frightened, and she had never hated anyone in that moment as much as she loathed Armitage Hux. “I assume you commanded my presence to inform me.”

“I tasked you both with crucial assignments, and you failed!” The king raged, and Fazma held her peace. He would have a tantrum, she knew, possibly striking her or Hux, destroying half of the items in his throne room, summon his stolen magics upon them - but he wouldn’t kill them. Not without Kreia there. Not with Bazine gone. 

Hux grunted, and Fazma turned to see Snoke gripping him by the throat, hauling the pale-faced general to his feet. “You spineless imbecile!”

“Your Majesty, they cannot press their claim without taking the castle!” He spluttered, his greasy copper hair thrown wildly into his eyes. There was something attractive in him, Phasma thought, if only his personality didn’t spoil it. “They must come here! And when they do, we’ll have -”

“We will lay a trap,” Fazma said coolly. “And they will have no choice but to spring it.”

Snoke tossed Armitage to the floor, his lip splitting as it hit the uneven stone floor of the castle, but Fazma barely spared him a glance. She watched her father pace, and wondered idly what plans Kreia was making.

“You  _ will _ catch them.” He stopped before Fazma, his fingers cold as he forced her chin up, giving her no choice but to meet his crazed blue eyes. “You will not fail me. Your fate is tied to mine, after all. Do not think your sister or the vile faerie lords will have mercy upon you.”

Fazma nodded without speaking, and Snoke’s eyes narrowed. “You will be married at dawn tomorrow. See that you prepare yourselves.”

With that pronouncement, the king retreated to slump into his throne, and Armitage climbed to his feet, giving her a possessive stare that made Fazma want to knock him down again. Instead, she leaned over and wiped the blood from his lip with her thumb, popping it into her mouth and sucking down the coppery flavor.

General Hux watched her with the same heated eyes she knew from their bedroom, and her lips curved into a cruel facsimile of a smile. She allowed him to take her hand and kiss the back of it, inclining her head a fraction in his direction.

“My lord. I shall see you at dawn.”

  
  
  


There was nothing that excited Han Solo more than the sight of the open sea surrounding the bow of his ship, choppy waves beating against the sturdy, well-sealed hull, splashing up to wet the face of the winged creature carved just below his feet. Wide, multi-hued wings, with a woman’s face and bare breasts and torso, the harpy’s lower body betrayed its fickle nature, ending in the sharp, long claws of a predatory raptor.

“We’ve got a problem,” Lando’s voice jarred him from his quiet contemplation of the ocean, and Han turned, noting the other man’s grim face.

“Something go wrong with the keel again?” The dark-skinned faerie shook his head, his lips pressed together in an angry line. 

“No, the boat’s fine.” Lando looked to steering deck where Han’s protege, Jhoira, was manning the wheel, then down to the cabin door below, standing open. “Bring them out, Chewie!”

The grizzled, massive grimalkin shouldered through, his clawed hands clenched firmly around the wrists of a pair of young faeries, a selkie and a nyxie, both looking cowed and frightened.

“Stowaways,” Lando pronounced glumly.

“Fantastic.” Han stalked over, yanking off the hood covering the selkie’s head. Jaina Syndulla stared up at him defiantly, struggling to yank her arm from Chewie’s steel grip. “Children. Just what I need on a sensitive, dangerous mission. Your mother will be worried sick, Jaina. She almost lost one kid, and then he ran off with her ship. And who the hell is this boy you’ve roped into your scheme?”

“My name’s Lucien. Lucien Windu, Knight of Ren,” the night faerie told him in a confident, but respectful tone. “Sir,” he added after Han narrowed his eyes.

“Mace Windu's kid, huh?” Lando leveled the boy with an icy glare. “How old are you, son?”

“Almost seventeen,” the knight replied, lifting his chin proudly.

“And in all your sixteen years’ worth of wisdom, you thought it would be a good idea to stowaway on the King's ship with a thirteen-year-old girl?” Han kept his voice as level as possible, but patience had never been the old pirate's strong suit. Lucien flinched visibly, giving Jaina an incredulous stare with his vivid blue eyes wide.

“You said you were fifteen.” The nyxie looked like he might be ill, and Han spared a moment to wonder what else was going between them besides this poorly-planned escapade. Nothing good, he'd wager.

“We’re very sorry, Your Majesty,” Jaina launched into a desperate plead. “We thought you were just going to do combat exercises, like they were doing on  _ The Ghost _ earlier -”

Han wasn’t buying it. He shook his head, scowling at the two young faeries.

“What the hell am I going to do with you?”

 


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teferi sighed. At this rate, by the time they recovered the stowaway brats, Lucien had better be ready to ask Jacen and Hera for the girl's hand. He supposed his parents would be pleased, if no one else was. Although he refused to be the one to tell Mace Windu his youngest son had run away with the thirteen-year-old daughter of Hera Syndulla. No, Lucien could explain that blunder all by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm still writing, y'all! 
> 
> Just recovering from a sudden downpour of real life that morohed into a goddamn cyclone. I started having a flare-up of my chronic nerve disorder in December and it's being stubborn to get under control, and then there was a downpour of family issues, two of our cats have severe ear infections, my shower and kitchen sink broke in the same week, issues came up with my disbility income... 
> 
> And of course, I'm having panic attacks under all the stress, because nothing sends me into a sobbing fit more quickly than unexpected mail from the government and my cats being sick! I'm trying to get a license for medical marijuana now that it's legal in my state, but even that has almost been more trouble than it's worth... Anyhow, updates will be sporadic until stuff calms down a bit, but I promise I'm not abandoning any of my work, I just can't physically sit and write or edit for very long at the moment. Thank you to everyone who leaves comments and kudos, I really do cherish every single one!

When Fazma knocked, the door to her mother’s study creaked open, and after a moment’s hesitation to check for guards up and down the hallway, she slipped inside. Kreia was not at her desk, so Fazma took a moment to walk around the room, studying the bookcases that lined the walls, volumes of ancient lore and histories, all hand-selected for their anti-faerie bias. She was browsing the pages of a book on the bog witches of Dathomir when her mother swept in from the adjoining suite, dressed down for bed in her long-sleeved, sensible nightgown and dark cotton robe, her face shockingly aged without her usual cosmetics.

 “Planning a visit to the Southern border?” Kreia asked archly. Fazma shook her head and replaced the volume, turning her full attention on the Queen.

 “No. Although I suppose we will have to arrange a progress now that Armitage and I have wedded.” She let her distaste for the task color her tone, and her mother regarded her with a sharp look.

“One would think you less than pleased with your elevated station,” Kreia murmured, seating herself at her desk and bending to retrieve something from the floor. “Come, watch.”

The item her mother placed over the top of her desk appeared to be large book, with a stitched leather cover and golden bindings, but when she let it fall open, the pages were empty.

Intrigued, Fazma seated herself on the edge of the desk, watching as her mother took up a quill and ink and wrote carefully at the top of the page:

_Captain Han Solo, King of New Alderaan and Naboo_

Nothing happened for a moment, and Fazma wondered briefly if her mother had summoned her simply to watch ink dry, but abruptly, the pages stirred to life under their own force. Kreia smiled slyly as Fazma gasped, entranced by the way the pages fluttered wildly, as if blown by gale-force winds, gradually slowing until they lay still and open again to a blank page.

She watched with shameless eagerness as words began to form, as if ink were somehow flowing _upwards_ from inside the book, and very quickly Fazma understood the workings of the artifact.

“Why not the Queen of Alderaan?” She asked, still focused on the continuing text. “Or Reyna?”

“Those with strong magic have a natural shielding,” Kreia explained quickly. “And the target must be traveling between hearths, as well. It took me some time to understand how it works.”

“Still. It is an excellent advantage,” Fazma said almost absently, reading the lines of text upside down. “It appears our dear King has some stowaways.”

“How very interesting,” Kreia agreed, bowing her head over the text beside her daughter.

They may not ever have a close relationship, but Fazma was not afraid to take any advantage her mother chose to bestow upon her. Given how limited Hux’s spy network had proven to be outside of Coruscant, and the closed mouths of the locals in the Low Country when they had questioned them about the princess’s escape, they were desperate for any outside information.

“It doesn’t name the children, the selkie or the nyx,” she pointed out, somewhat discouraged. Still, just knowing that the king and his loyal followers were at sail again was useful knowledge, and it appeared Calrissian was with him, as well, which left the possibility of covert action in Cloud City.

 Kreia slammed the book closed suddenly, her eyes flashing red through the facade of her dannan form, and Fazma jumped to her feet.

 “Pay attention, child! I explained that sorcerers have protection from the book’s powers. Thus…” She eyed Fazma expectantly.

“The children are sorcerers.” Of course. That explained how they’d slipped past Han Solo and his pet grimalkin so easily. “Not jeweled, I presume.”

 “Perhaps.” Kreia was watching her daughter with that calculating, expectant look again, and Fazma held herself taut to hide the chill that icy gaze sent down her spine. Her mother would have to be the first to go, she decided. Snoke was dangerous, but he was a rather predictable sort of danger. Even his cunning was, given some thought, predictable.

Kreia, on the other hand, was dangerous _and_ clever. And quite possibly a little mad. Without Bazine to occupy some of her attentions, Fazma was beginning to feel more and more overburdened and resentful.

Somehow, she managed to meet her mother’s piercing stare without sighing irritably, or cowering in fear.

“I’ll summon the pirate lords from the river mouth, and have Hux’s special squad escort them in.”

Kreia nodded, apparently pleased with her daughter’s plans.

“Good. Inform me when they arrive.” She replaced the book behind her desk, in whatever hiding place she’d devised for it, and stood up to scowl at Fazma. “Go on, girl. You’re dismissed.”

She didn’t have to be told twice. Fazma went quickly to her own rooms, summoning her ladies to prepare her for bed. They’d only been married two days, but she rather hoped Armitage would come to her tonight. His hands and tongue would be a welcome distraction, and she was curious to see how he responded to news that her mother’s spies had succeeded where his own had failed. Perhaps she could punish him for it.

 

 

“Your Majesty,” Leia greeted the violet-haired seraphine being led into her private sitting room.

The Queen of Ren smiled, her small but expressive mouth formed into a perfect rosebud as she curtsied just a fraction of an inch lower than Leia.

“Will you sit?” Leia invited, gesturing to the tea service and little pastries arranged on her coffee table.

“Of course,” Amilyn gave another little nod, and they settled in, waiting for Threepio to prepare and serve their tea, before Leia dismissed him. The seraphine looked unsurprised when Leia retrieved a small flask from the pocket of her court gown and added a generous spill to her cup, holding hers out eagerly when the other queen arched a brow.

“Han is bad influence on you,” the seraphine said, eye sparkling with amusement as she sipped. She glanced down at the cup in surprise. “Honey whiskey? That’s different.”

“Mmm,” Leia agreed. “I’ve been changing up a few of my routines, given all the mischief that’s going on in this court. Frankly, I’m glad you’re here, I could use another set of eyes on this lot. As if Carise and Lord Casterfo weren’t enough, now I’ve got Mara Jade whispering in ears and Luke nearly ready to set fires with his glaring,” she sighed, taking a hearty swallow of her spiked tea. “Just like old times, I suppose.”

“Except we weren’t queens, then,” Amilyn pointed out with another small smile. “Which perhaps made things such as espionage easier. It’s damned difficult to sneak around when everyone knows your face and you’ve got a whole contingent of royal guards escorting you. Or even a few die-hard Rangers.”

“Trouble with Cassian?” Leia asked, surprised. But the seraphine just shook her head. “No, the Andors are both loyal and better strategists than even me. But the younger rangers…”

“Ah. Lord Stryker after your hand again?”

Amilyn nodded with her eyes, having known it wouldn’t take long for Leia to guess what she was talking about.

“Well, he is quite beautiful, isn’t he? Those red wings -”

“Oh, not you, too!” The violet-haired queen laughed. “I thought we were better friends than that, Leia. I’ve already gone over why I’m not interested in marriage. Especially with another seraphim.”

“The mating bond,” Leia nodded knowingly. “Believe me, I’m aware of its power. I’ve just lost my son to it, in fact.”

“But you love Princess Reyna,” Amilyn’s voice was surprised, and Leia quelled her worries with a fond smile.

“I do. And I’m happy for them both. She’s good for him, Lyn. At first glance she’s quiet, polite, unobtrusive -”

“Ah, she’s a quiet one,” the seraphine nodded, catching Leia’s eye. “I know how that goes. God help anyone who stands in his way.”

“Precisely.”

“No chance you’re going to actually share the details of whatever operation the younger members of your court - including your son - have absconded to pursue,” the other queen pressed gently, but Leia only chuckled.

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know? I knew they were planning _something_. And I knew they were leaving. But sometimes…” She peered into her teacup pensively for a long moment. “Sometimes it’s best if we don’t know all the details.”

“You have a problem with unwanted ears,” Amilyn guessed, leaning forward to meet the other queen’s dark eyes, catching the glint of steel there and setting her mouth in a slim line. “And you want my help.”

“Not in the way you might think,” Leia said, holding the seraph’s gaze. “I love you, Amilyn, but you’re a terrible liar.”

“I’m a seraph,” she replied with a soft chuckle. “We’re not made to be subtle.”

“No. And I’m not asking you to be subtle. In fact…”

Amilyn listened, her bright blue eyes widening as the other queen explained the part she wished her play, and eventually she found herself smiling. They might both be queens in their own right, but Leia was Bail Organa’s daughter through and through. She knew politics in a way Amilyn Holdo, even after thirty years of ruling her own tiny kingdom, would never understand.

 

“She's not with them,” Ahsoka confirmed again, casting a worried frown over the hunched shoulders and bruised eyes of the selkie sitting across from her. She had a feeling her tea cup had been neglected long enough to grow cold, and made a subtle gesture to warm it before Hera's other friend brought it to her attention.

“Hera, beating yourself up isn't going to help anyone,” Sabine Wren reminded her, holding the cup out insistently. The older admiral took it with a faint smile of fondness from the nyxie's night-black hand.

“I know,” she admitted, taking several slow sips, if only for the benefit of her friends. “I'd feel better if she were with Jacen, but I’m almost glad she's not. They'd only have to worry themselves about sending her back.” She stared pensively into her tea. “But I wish I did know where she'd gone. The only ships to leave harbor after _The Ghost_ are supply frigates and -”

Suddenly Sabine got to her feet, shooting them both a troubled look, before beckoning for the other two ladies to follow, her eyes grim.

“Sabine,” Ahsoka started to say, needing the barest moment to follow the Spymaster's thoughts. It was Hera's mention of ships leaving that seemed to have to inspired her, and once she had moved onto that line of thinking, it was easy to make the right connections.

The nyxie's violet eyes darted over to hers as she strode beside her in the hall, and Ahsoka gave her a quick nod to show that they were on the same page. Then, with a tilt of her head and a backwards glance at Hera, following them, Ahsoka asked a question out loud for the selkie's benefit.

“You've heard from Ezra?”

“Not since he left yesterday.” Sabine responded, both speaking in tones that carried easily through the lazy afternoon halls. "He's to fly to Cloud City once they're past the coastline."

“Ezra's in Cloud City? What about Lando?” Hera chimed in, giving Ahsoka a sudden uncomfortable feeling at having manipulated her friends so easily. Sabine's bright eyes rolled in her head as she dropped back to walk beside Hera, laying a friendly hand on the other woman's arm.

“Han asked him to keep an eye out up there, since the Saints only know what's going up without Mara or Lando. Lady Ellisandre is perfectly capable, but given certain complications... The King and Queen thought it best to station a sorcerer there as well,” she answered carefully.

She did not mention that her husband had departed the same day as Jacen and the other young knights, but if anyone understood the ploy of disguising intrigue with a publicly-endorsed state visit, the Spymaster would. Ahsoka shot her a grateful smile as they came to a break in the halls.

Sabine met her gaze coolly, giving away nothing as she directed Hera out towards the knights' training yard and the quarters she shared with Ezra and Onera and their other daughters beyond. “Let's go see if we can get a message through to him, shall we?”

 

Ahsoka took the opposite path, disappearing further into the palace, in search of information on the ship she knew had left under cover of darkness that morning, a ship that came and went so regularly from New Alderaan that its movements were barely noted by the harbor masters. Should they be allowed to note it at all, given the unusual circumstances of its captain.

“Good afternoon, Threepio. Is the King in today?”

“Goodness, Master Tano, I am afraid King Han left very early this morning,” the stodgy dryad informed her in his crisp accent. “But Her Majesty has just finished her tea with Queen Amilyn, if you would like me to take her a message.”

“That’s alright, Threepio. I’ll just talk to her in person,” Ahsoka moved her fingers, casting a light displacement spell to slip around him through the half-open door of the Queen’s private solar.

“Master Tano!”

“Don’t worry, Her Majesty will want to hear this,” she promised him with a wink, making her way through the outer sitting room and into the half-open, canopied terrace where Leia was still sitting. The Queen turned at the sound of her voice, and her eyes appraised Ahsoka’s every movement and facial expression as the lamia stepped towards her.

“Threepio does like to perform his duties as my steward once in a while, you know,” Leia said, her narrowed gaze full of curiosity that belied her gentle reprimand.

“Sometimes, in matters of emergency, it is better to ask forgiveness than waste time seeking permission,” Ahsoka replied with a sly quirk of her brows. “In this case, I felt the former was warranted. Lady Jaina is missing. Hera’s already searched the palace docks and the lower port. The only ship beside the usual supply frigates to leave last night -”

“Oh, no.” Leia closed her eyes and propped her head in one hand, groaning as if that alone had triggered a scorching headache. “No, no, no -”

“I have an idea,” Ahsoka said grimly, taking the seat across from her Queen. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“Ahsoka, we cannot afford for you to take the field! We’ve been over this, I absolutely cannot condone it -”

“Leia,” the sorceress kept her voice gentle, but she was over a hundred years the sidhe’s senior. She lived in the palace and supported their cause, she had trained Ezra and Kanan and later Onera and Kana, had lent her magic to Skywalker’s efforts numerous times, but she did not serve the rulers of Alderaan.

Ahsoka Tano served no one. 

“There’s nothing I can say, is there?” Leia asked in the ensuing silence. She looked up, and Ahsoka met her gaze fearlessly. Truly, she was not absolutely certain that Leia Organa’s power was not strong enough to cast a sidhe geas upon her, but it would have been a surprise if the Queen had tried. Leia could be ruthless when she had to be, but never at the cost of another’s life or will.

The elder faerie crossed her arms, and finally, Leia looked away with a tired sigh. Ahsoka frowned at that - anger, stubborn argument, icy derision - all of those she had expected, but that unhappy sigh was telling. She softened slightly, relaxing her shoulders.

“Leia. There are reasons I dare not share,” she offered in explanation. “Rey _must_ get through to the altar on Coruscant. If this leaves you feeling vulnerable… I have no words to comfort you. You are a queen, not a lonely orphaned princess with scant resources. Skywalker and Lady Kana are in residence, and they are more than capable sorcerers. Luke _raised_ this island from the depths of the sea for you. And there will be other allies doing their part, as well. Have a little faith, for Saints’ sake.”

“What do you mean, other allies?” Almost as soon as she said it, Leia shook her head and waved away any attempt at an answer from the lamia. “Nevermind, I’m sure it’s best if I don’t know.”

“Hope is like the sun,” Ahsoka spoke softly, rising. The Queen gave a soft gasp, her dark eyes glittering with intelligence, and the lamia nodded grimly in answer to the question in her eyes.

Leia exhaled slowly. “If you only believe in it when you can see it…”

“You’ll never make it through the night,” they said together.

Ahsoka reached down and gave Leia’s slim shoulder a firm, steadying squeeze, and then she summoned the powers of twilight and wind, and she was gone, the empty breeze sweeping through the terrace the only lingering sign of her presence.

 

Lady Ellisandre, Captain-Commander of the Knights of the Cloud and Consort to Lord Lando Calrissian, watched the seraph pacing before her on the marble tile of her receiving room from a reclined position.

“I cannot help you if you will not tell me what has you so riled up,” she said for what seemed like the hundredth time. Lord Ezra had come to her shortly after arriving in the early hours of the morning, agitated and unhappy, but refused to give her specific details, other than demanding to know if she had any way of contacting her mate without magical means. 

As it happened, Elle _did_ have her own ways of communicating with her partner and ruler, but it required a bit of delicate clockwork and no small amount of her own energy, so she reserved it for all but the most pressing emergencies. Ezra would not tell her the details of the emergency, and since she did not know him well enough to trust his judgment, she had refused him.

Thus, the past two hours, where the seraph paced angrily, trying desperately to impose upon her the seriousness of his need for nonmagical contact even though he and was a sapphire-jeweled sorcerer and perfectly capable of scrying.

The man turned again to face her, running both slender hands through his shaggy, deep indigo hair and grimacing.

“Someone is watching our magical communications,” he said through clenched teeth. “And, if they are monitoring us magically, it stands to reason -”

“There are nonmagical spies as well. Obviously.” Elle rolled her eyes, toying with a styled fox-red curl that hung down from the pile atop her head. It was outright blasphemy among boggans to style her hair in such a way, let alone shave all of her body hair beneath it and apply powders and paints to her eyes, but Lady Ellisandre had spent her life defying every social norm placed upon her. The fact that she had begun life as Lord Andre, the only son of master clockwork engineer and a lotus-flower nymph, was almost ancillary information at this point.

The knight moved gracefully to her feet, her form as slender as a boggan’s could get, hips and chest drawn into feminine curves by magic and corsets, and rested a hand on the hilt of her sword. Her eyes moved, taking in the two guards flanking the entrance to the room, the startled seraph who watched her warily, and Lord Lando’s steward who stood patiently at the side of her chair.

“Out, all of you!” She made a shooing gesture with bejeweled hands. Ezra scowled and Elle rolled her eyes, grabbing his arm. “Not you, you imbecile!”

The rest of her entourage bowed and deparated, though the steward left far more hesitantly than the guards. An old sidhe inherited from Lando’s predecessor, he was known for whinging about protocol, but more importantly for spreading gossip, and she didn’t want him anywhere near Ezra now that he’d let that dangerous tidbit drop.

“Go on, Anafael, I will summon you later if your services are required,” she fixed him with a hard stare, and he scurried out, letting the door fall closed with a loud thunk in the quiet room. Lady Elle turned to Ezra.

“Now, then. I presume you are able to cast a privacy spell or ten?” She regretted getting to her feet, even in her customary heeled boots, the seraph was tall, and she was not a fan of craning her neck up to try and read his expression. Thankfully, seraphim were not the secretive type, and the surprise and tentative trust in his eyes seemed genuine as he nodded and raised his hand to comply.

Soft crackles of violet and indigo sparked from his hands and spread out, expanding and merging with each other until they were surrounded by one solid, transparent barrier, rather like being inside of a soap bubble.

“I may never get over how beautiful magic is,” Elle said softly, admiring the shimmering surface of his spell. “Nevertheless, we do not have time to admire it. Speak plainly please, we are not at court.”

“I tried to contact an ally last night - Jyn Erso-Andor, Master of Ren’s Knights - and she repeated an old coded message from the Rebellion that we used to indicate correspondence was insecure,” he explained with a deepening frown. “Jyn is not a sorceress, but she has in her possession a magical scrying mirror created by her father. I thought perhaps the issue was simply the mirror, but when my wife and daughter contacted me this morning, I received the same caution. I also received a letter this via messenger bird from other sources this morning, and the trace of strange powers on it was unmistakable. It seems Lady Jaina and one of the younger knights have stolen away on a ship, and -”

“And you believe they are on the _Millenium Falcon ,_ but you don't want to risk being overheard by scrying the King.” Elle intuited. “I see. How old, exactly, are these children?”

“Jaina is thirteen, Lucien is sixteen.”

“Fantastic. Just what we need in this situation,” she grimaced, tapping dark red painted lips with a delicately-manicured fingernail. “Alright, Lord Bridger -”

“It’s Lord Wren, actually,” he corrected with a twitch of his lips. Lady Ellisandre tilted her head, regarding him with interest. Perhaps there was more to the stoic, brooding seraph than she had first assumed. He shrugged, deep purple and shimmering green feathers lifting and settling at a slight mantle above his slim shoulders. “My wife outranks me. I’m just a knight. It seemed better to pass on her family name to our daughters.”

“Interesting,” Elle surveyed him once more, nodding to herself before beckoning for him to follow as she strode to the passage hidden behind the large gold-trimmed divan she had been reclining on. “Come with me. My father was famous for his clockwork.”

She pressed her palm against a seemingly-unremarkable panel in the wall, and Ezra let out a huff of interest as a hidden door activated and recessed into the wall, revealing a set of winding stone stairs. The boggan knight flashed him a look of amusement, and possibly some amount of pride. Although there was nothing in his palace that Lando Calrissian didn’t know about, the mechanism was her creation, and the laboratory beneath her own private space. Very rarely did she even allow her partner and lord down the steep, winding staircase, and it pleased her to see the seraph’s obvious admiration.

She was less pleased when he completely failed to heed her careful instructions on the devices she showed him, though he still handled them with respectful gentleness, unlike Lando and Han and their ham-fisted frustrations. No, Lord Ezra was more fascinated and  _meddlesome_ than willfully ignorant. 

“This button to talk, and then this button to receive?” He asked tentatively, pushing the buttons in exactly the opposite order than Elle’s explanation.

Sighing and shoving a lock of fiery curls from her face, she grabbed a paintbrush and some dark ink and retrieved the small, clamshell-like communicator from the seraph.

“Here,” she said, painting the first button green and the second one red. “Green to talk. Hold it down firmly the entire time. Release when you’re done.”

“And red?”

“It will flash when someone is trying to reach you,” she demonstrated, handing him back the first device and pressing the ‘talk’ button on the one she held. As she’d described, the clockwork clamshell in Ezra’s hand flashed red, and he opened it. “Now, hold down the red button to listen…”

It really wasn’t that complicated, but she was about ready to cram the device down the man’s throat until he choked on it by the time he finally stopped asking needless questions. Apparently he was only in a hurry until he came across a puzzle he just had to understand, and he refused to use the devices until he knew  precisely how they functioned. Then, it was just a matter of getting all the corresponding devices to the rest of their allies, and they spent another hour in heated discussion of who should be entrusted with them, given the limited number, before the seraph warded himself in her workwoom to perform the teleportation spells. 

When they had finally retreated to Lando's study, where Elle was curled up on the lounge with her shoes kicked off and a glass of warm mulled wine, Ezra reminded her of the need to communicate with her mate through her own device.

Which was, of course, the very moment the copper clamshell she wore on a chain about her neck began to flash red, and she opened and activated it to hear her very, _very_ , disgruntled partner complain at length about children, and stowaways, and Han Solo and how much he really hated ocean voyages, regardless of her blatant snort of disbelief.

 

"That took a lot longer than you led me to believe." Teferi had removed the feather that held his glamour for the duration of their conversation, and it floated in a protective bubble beside him, safe from the curious looks of the nesting great eagles in the cave around them.

Ezra grimaced, reaching in his pocket and withdrawing a small golden object much like a folded clamshell, but with softly glowing clockwork mechanisms on the lip. He held it out, and Teferi took it with a slight smile of interest.

"Lady Ellisandre is fantastic engineer of clockwork. It feeds on your personal aether, so any faerie can use it, even those of us without sorcery," he explained quickly. "It's our best hope for keeping our communications secure."

Teferi frowned, his head inclined with concern. "Hope is like the sun," he replied softly, praying Ezra's use of the word was merely accidental. Of course, the world would never make things so simple.

"If you only believe in it when you can see it..."

After completing the exchange, Ezra departed to return to the Marquis' palace above, leaving Teferi alone with only the company of the massive birds. They were intelligent beasts, and quite surprisingly accepting of this strange half-bird creature hiding in their midst, but he thought he might go mad if he had to live alone with them for an extended period of time. Luckily, the gift of the communication device solved that problem, and he activated it as soon as he was settled in the little bunk he had built for himself. Ezra had looked exhausted from the expenditure of teleporting all the devices to their intended recipients, and Teferi wondered if it had even occurred to the older man that he could have helped.

Regardless, he was eager to test the device, and with nothing else to do as of yet, he opened the little golden object and spoke the name of the person he most wanted to communicate with.

"Missed me already, feather-brain?" Poe Dameron's teasing tone easily brought up an image of the man's mocking smile, and Teferi chuckled.

"You answered fast for someone who's trying to sound disinterested."

"Hmm. Let's just say everyone else has paired up for the night and I'm not a fan of Arthur's company," Poe retorted. "So what are you going to do about your delinquent little brother?"

"Well, I'd prefer to throttle him myself, of course, but... I think facing the wrath of Han Solo himself is punishment enough."

"It would be, if he hadn't absconded with a thirteen-year-old."

Teferi paused. He hadn't actually known Lady Jaina's age, and he couldn't recall the subject ever coming up. Nevertheless, he knew his brother was raised with the same courtly manners that had been instilled by their soft-spoken, but disciplined mother.

"I find it hard to believe Lucien was aware of all the facts of the situation. He is far too quick to make decisions, and you cannot tell me your little Lady Jaina isn't a student of courtly manipulation, even at such a young age."

Poe laughed at his thoughtful response. "I can't say I disagree with that. I'd bet hard coin she's got him wrapped around her finger, the poor sap, and he'll take the heat for most of it, too."

Teferi sighed. At this rate, by the time they recovered the stowaway brats, Lucien had better be ready to ask Jacen and Hera for the girl's hand. He supposed his parents would be pleased, if no one else was. Although he refused to be the one to tell Mace Windu his youngest son had run away with the thirteen-year-old daughter of Hera Syndulla. No, Lucien could explain that blunder all by himself.

**Author's Note:**

> I am on tumblr @khawapashitheelder and now twitter @khawapashi if you want to say hi and read my very random musings and 3am update posts. I’m bad at social media stuffs and I could probably be half y'alls mother, but I try.
> 
> Edit: I'm really bad at guestimating chapter counts so... It may go up later, but I still want to give at least a vague idea of length so readers know what kind of commitment is involved.


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